AceShowbiz - Ryan Gosling says he "leans" on his wife. The "Drive" actor reveals that Eva Mendes, with whom he shares who has daughters Esmerelda, seven, and Amada, five, always knows what to do in life and with work if he's ever confused.

He told British GQ, "I just lean on Eva. She knows what's important, always. She just somehow knows. So if ever I'm in my head about it, I just ask her."

Despite his global movie success Ryan added he started out being told he didn't have the looks of a leading man - but that led to him being cast in "The Notebook".

He said when he was auditioning for rom-com its director Nick Cassavetes, 64, "straight up told me: 'The fact that you have no natural leading-man qualities is why I want you to be my leading man.' "

Ryan, who will play Ken in Greta Gerwig's upcoming "Barbie" film, also told how he has gone from treating acting like "therapy" for himself to doing the job to make audiences tap into their emotions. He said starting out in independent films "you kinda make the movie for yourselves." Somebody then gave him the advice, "Your job is just to feel it."

But Ryan said he has moved away from that approach, adding, "I think, having done a lot of that, I realise that I kind of feel like my job is for other people to feel it. And it's cool if I do, but that’s really not the point. The point is that other people do."