The rumor mill was flying with reports of yet another split between Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes after she was suspiciously absent from the Cannes Film Festival, but Gosling has once again hinted there is nothing to worry about with his relationship.

Eva Mendes & Ryan Gosling Relationship 'On The Rocks?'

In a June 4 interview with Yahoo! the actor-turned-director, whose debut Lost River premiered at Cannes to somewhat unfavorable reviews, spoke about how much he loves working with his off-screen girlfriend on the film.

"I love collaborating with her," he said. "She brings so much and she's heavily into research. She needs to root everything that she does into some kind of reality....And so she brought all this incredible research, and she also found really important character pieces in the movie, like Billy's sequined jacket. She didn't say that it was Billy's jacket, but she just found it and out it on a rack of stuff and Matt walked in and he saw it and he said 'That's it.' And she just has that way."

Eva Mendes A No-Show At Cannes Film Festival

While neither outright confirming nor denying his personal relationship with the actress, whom he met three years ago while filming The Place Beyond the Pines, he didn't shy away from a question where a veiled reference to his relationship was made, the usual tactic both he and Mendes have often adopted in interviews.

"I think you want to direct people that you care about because you love them and you want them to be great," he said. "You want to show what you think is great about them and I love all of these actors, I really do. I just think that they are so good."

Split rumors once again plagued the actors after Mendes wasn't at Cannes to support Lost River, making fans wonder if the two had once again ended their on-again/off-again romance.

She was expected to attend the festival with Gosling, especially after rumors the couple were secretly engaged and planning a wedding, which made her absence even more conspicuous.

Tags: ryan gosling Eva Mendes