Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock's Relationship Timeline: A Look Back

Actors Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock have had their share of romances with former co-stars, including Bullock's four-year relationship with her Love Potion No. 9 castmate Tate Donovan. So when the two met in 2001 on the set of the psychological thriller Murder by Numbers, they didn't let their complicated dating histories or a 16-year age gap stand in their way. Bullock, then 37, and Gosling, who was just 21 at the time, went from "just friends" to quietly dating off-camera. 

Though they never officially confirmed their relationship, Bullock and Gosling were photographed together in Los Angeles and on the red carpet. The Blind Side actress and The Place Beyond the Pines star were romantically linked for nearly two years before deciding to go their separate ways in 2003. Still, after their split, the famous exes seemingly kept things amicable between them, with Gosling saying that Bullock was one of his "greatest girlfriends of all time" in 2011.  

Here's a look back at Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock's relationship.

2001: Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock first meet

The two actors met in 2001 while filming Murder by Numbers. Bullock played homicide detective Cassie Mayweather, while Gosling took on the role of high school genius Richard Hayward, who pulled off the "perfect" murder with a classmate. Regardless of their age gap, the two hit it off and began dating.

May 2002: Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock are first spotted together

Although the paparazzi would have had a field day catching these two out and about together in L.A., that just wasn't their MO. In fact, the co-stars confirmed they were a couple (without actually confirming they were a couple) when they posed for photos on the red carpet at the Murder by Numbers premiere in Cannes in 2002.

February 2003: Sandra Bullock hints at her relationship with Ryan Gosling

While their relationship was very hush-hush, the rom-com queen did coyly hint about her and The Notebook heartthrob being more than friends in 2003.

When asked if she and Gosling were "just friends," she told Cosmopolitan, "If you were to add the word 'just,' it would probably be a bit of a lie. So, I'd say we're friends." 

She also gave another hint, adding that a movie set — the exact place where she and Gosling were first introduced — is the "best dating service on the planet."

What The Micky Mouse Club alum lacked in years, he made up for in maturity, with Bullock acknowledging he taught her an important life lesson: "to chill."

"I live my life at a manic pace, and he's taught me to disregard all that isn't important," she said of what she's learned from being around Gosling. "He's like a little Buddha."

2003: Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock break up

Bullock and Gosling's relationship ended shy of the two-year mark, with the pair splitting in 2003. The reason for their breakup was unknown at the time, but Gosling later blamed the entertainment industry for why they didn't work out.

"Show business is the bad guy," he told The Times in 2011, per The Independent. "When both people are in show business, it's too much show business. It takes all of the light, so nothing else can grow."

That said, Gosling maintained that Bullock was one of his greatest loves. 

"I had two of the greatest girlfriends of all time," he said in reference to Bullock and his other ex-girlfriend Rachel McAdams. "I haven't met anybody who could top them." (This was before he met and later married his former The Place Beyond the Pines co-star Eva Mendes, of course).