Ryan Gosling’s daughters have a special nickname for Emily Blunt — and it’s a callback to one of her most famous movie roles.
“My kids call [Emily] Mary Poppins,” Gosling, 43, revealed on the Tuesday, April 23, episode of the Today show. “They’re like, ‘Are you working with Mary Poppins today?’ Yes, yes I am.”
Blunt, 41 — who played the title role of the magical nanny in 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns — and Gosling both share two daughters of the same age with their respective partners: Blunt and husband John Krasinski are parents to Hazel, 9, and Violet, 7, while Gosling and longtime partner Eva Mendes share Esmerelda, 9, and Amada, 7.
According to Blunt, the admiration of their little ones goes both ways. She shared that her daughters “love” Gosling deeply, especially for his role as Ken in 2023’s hit summer blockbuster Barbie.
Celebrity BFFs: Hollywood’s Closest Pals
“Actually, my oldest one [Violet] — It’s the first movie she has expressed any interest in, and it has nothing to do with me. It’s all about Ryan,” she quipped. However, when Gosling replied it’s more about “Ken, really,” Blunt had to agree.
“It’s Ken,” she admitted. “They’re fascinated with what his hair looks like in real life. That was a question I got a lot.” (Gosling famously bleached his hair platinum blonde for the role.)
Gosling and Blunt costar in the upcoming film The Fall Guy, which hits theaters May 3. The movie follows battle-scarred stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling) as he returns to the entertainment business when the star of a big studio movie suddenly disappears. Blunt portrays his ex-girlfriend, Jody Moreno, who also happens to be the director of the film Colt has been cast in.
Although Gosling’s own nickname for Blunt is “Emily Stunty Blunt,” he told Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday that the actress does have an innate whimsical element that resembles her 2018 character.
“She just brings, you know, she brings that blunt force, she brings the magic, she just Mary Poppins it,” he explained. “And pulls whatever it is out of her bag. She ascends from the heavens, she pulls all of the tricks out of her acting bag, she makes the magic. Then she’s off to help other people on other movies and you’re like, ‘Was that real?’”
Blunt, meanwhile, has endless regard for Gosling’s talent.
“I could actually write a sort of laundry list of things that I admire and adore about Ryan,” she told ET. I think he is a complete singular talent and he’s the best and he’s endlessly funny, ridiculously bright and kind … You are the kindest.”
While Blunt and Gosling are clearly good friends, they poked fun at their 2023 films, Oppenheimer and Barbie, going head to head at the box office last summer while presenting at the Oscars in March. (Both were up for Academy Awards in the Best Supporting categories, but Emma Stone and Blunt’s Oppenheimer costar Cillian Murphy took home the wins.)
“I’m just happy that we can finally put this ‘Barbenheimer’ rivalry aside,” Gosling told Blunt on stage, to which Blunt quipped, “The way this award season has turned out, it wasn’t that much of a rivalry. Just let it go!”
“It’s true. You guys are doing very well, you know? Congratulations,” Gosling replied about Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb biopic, which ultimately took home Best Picture that night. “But I think I kind of figured out why it’s called ‘Barbenheimer’ and not ‘Oppenarbie.’ You’re on the tail end because you rode Barbie’s coattails all summer.”
Emily Blunt: I Won’t ‘Compromise’ on Being a Part of My Daughter’s Lives
Gosling was referring to the $1.4 billion Barbie grossed at the worldwide box office, which made Greta Gerwig’s comedy the highest-grossing film of 2023. Oppenheimer, meanwhile, earned a total of $960 million worldwide.
“Thanks for Kens-plaining that to me, all right,” Blunt fired back. “Mr. I need to paint my abs on to get nominated! You don’t see Robert Downey doing that.”
The Fall Guy hits theaters on Friday, May 3.
