Ryan Gosling gushed that his movie career landed him "the girl of my dreams" in wife Eva Mendes and their two "dream children", as he was bestowed with the prestigious Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film.

The 'Barbie' star, 43, received the special honour - which had only been handed to just 15 stars prior - at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival at the weekend and admitted he's most thankful for meeting the 49-year-old actress on the set of their 2013 flick 'The Place Beyond the Pines' the year before.

During his emotional speech, the father-of-two - who has Esmerelda, nine, and Amada, seven, with Eva - said: "Most importantly, I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children.

"I dreamed of one day making movies, and now, movies have made my life a dream."

The 'Drive' star was overwhelmed to receive the award named after his late acting hero.

He said: "It's hard to imagine being at a point in my career where I'm standing up here tonight ... It's just that it's Kirk Douglas. He's one of the first true icons of cinema ... he is completely and utterly in the class of his own, and I'm … just Ken?"

Gosling humbly admitted he feels like he's got more out of cinema than he's contributed.

He continued: "Up until this point, I've only ever thought about just how much cinema had done for me. I had never really thought about what I've done for cinema, as far back as I can remember."

He went on to praise his mom, Donna, for schooling him.

Gosling shared: "That open door wasn't an elevator that went straight to the top, but I was able to help my mom pay the rent. And by playing other people, I was learning who I was in the process."

Praising 'Barbie' director Greta Gerwig, 40, he added: "Even though she was making one of the biggest films of all time against all the odds in the world, she never allowed the weight of the task to steal the joy away from the moment."