Eva Mendes
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Eva de la Caridad Méndez (Template:IPAc-en, Template:IPA; born March 5, 1974),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> known professionally as Eva Mendes, is an American former actress. Her acting career began in the late 1990s with a series of roles in films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) and Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000).
Mendes's performance in Training Day (2001) marked a turning point in her career and led to parts in the commercially successful films 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and Hitch (2005). She starred in Ghost Rider (2007) and The Spirit (2008), both film adaptations of comics, and ventured into more dramatic territory with We Own the Night (2007), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Last Night (2010), and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012). Her other films include Out of Time (2003), The Women (2008), The Other Guys (2010), and Girl in Progress (2012).
Mendes has appeared in several music videos for artists such as Will Smith and has also been an ambassador for brands including Calvin Klein, Cartier, Reebok, Pantene shampoo, Morgan and Peek & Cloppenburg. She has designed for New York & Company and was the creative director of CIRCA Beauty, a makeup line sold at Walgreens.
Early life
Mendes was born on March 5, 1974, in Miami, to Cuban parents Eva Pérez Suárez and Carlos Méndez and was raised by her mother in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> after her parents' divorce.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her mother worked at Mann's Chinese Theatre<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and later for an aerospace company, and her father ran a meat distribution business.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mendes had an older brother Juan Carlos Méndez (1963–2016), who died from throat cancer, and a younger half brother, Carlo (born 1978).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She attended Hoover High School in Glendale<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and later studied marketing at California State University, Northridge, but left college to pursue acting under Ivana Chubbuck.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Acting career
Beginnings and breakthrough (1998–2001)
Mendes started her acting career after a talent manager saw her photograph in a friend's portfolio.<ref name="People Bio">Template:Cite web</ref> Her first film role was as part of a group of young people who become lost in middle America in the direct-to-video horror film Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror. Mendes was disappointed in her performance and soon hired an acting coach.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She subsequently took on the roles of a bridesmaid in the comedy A Night at the Roxbury (1998) with Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan, a housekeeper in the fantasy family film My Brother the Pig (1999) with Scarlett Johansson, and an ill-fated film student in the slasher film Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000). She was considered for a role in the film Piñero (2001) by director Leon Ichaso but did not get the part.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Mendes appeared in the Steven Seagal action thriller Exit Wounds (2001), which made over US$73 million worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Mendes, her voice was dubbed in the editing after a producer told her she "didn't sound intelligent enough".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her breakthrough came later in 2001 with her performance as the mistress of a corrupt cop in Antoine Fuqua's crime thriller Training Day alongside Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She described her role as pivotal in her career, motivating her to keep going as an actress after she had become bored doing "terrible, cheesy horrible films."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Training Day was a box office hit, grossing US$104.5 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Worldwide exposure (2002–2009)
Her role in Training Day led to larger film parts and Mendes soon established herself as a Hollywood actress. While her sole film release in 2002 was the crime comedy All About the Benjamins, in which she played the girlfriend of a con artist, Mendes had roles in four studio feature films released throughout 2003. 2 Fast 2 Furious teamed her with Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson while portraying a United States Customs Service agent working undercover for a notorious Argentine drug lord. The film gave Mendes much wider exposure, grossing over US$236 million globally.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Western action film Once Upon a Time in Mexico saw her star as the daughter of a Mexican drug lord, alongside Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. While reviews for the film were mixed, it made US$98.1 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Mendes reunited with Denzel Washington for the thriller Out of Time, in which she played the soon-to-be ex-wife of a well-respected chief of police. The film was a moderate commercial success,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Roger Ebert, in his review for the film, described Mendes' role as a "curiously forgiving character, who feels little rancor for the straying [husband] and apparently still likes him; maybe there would have been more suspense if she were furious with him".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her last 2003 film was the comedy Stuck on You, with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, in which she played an aspiring actress.<ref name="People Bio"/>
She starred as the love interest of a professional dating consultant (Will Smith), in her next film, Hitch (2005), USA Today described it as "her best screen role to date",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Detroit Free Press remarked: "Smith and Mendes are terrific together. He brings her game up so high you'd think she has had as many good parts as Smith."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hitch made US$368.1 million in its global theatrical run.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2005, Mendes also starred in the little-seen films The Wendell Baker Story and Guilty Hearts.
In the romantic comedy Trust the Man (2006), Mendes starred with David Duchovny, Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, playing what The A.V. Club described as a "vapid sexpot".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The much criticized Ghost Rider (2007), based on the Marvel Comics character, featured Mendes as the love interest of the titular character (Nicolas Cage). The film fared well commercially, opening atop at the North American box office, with earnings of more than US$45 million; it eventually made over US$228 million worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She starred opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg in the thriller We Own the Night (also 2007), as the girlfriend of an NYPD captain's brother. Critic Peter Travers found the film to be "defiantly, refreshingly unhip" and noted that "sizzle comes naturally" from Mendes.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2007, she also starred in the films Live! and Cleaner, both of which went unnoticed by audiences, and made an uncredited cameo appearance in the comedy Knocked Up.
In 2008, Mendes took on the role of a perfume salesgirl in Saks Fifth Avenue in the all-female comedy The Women, opposite Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, and Jada Pinkett Smith.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Though a commercial success, The Women was panned by critics, with Mendes earning a nomination for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her performance. She also played the femme fatale Sand Saref in 2008's The Spirit, based on the newspaper comic strip of the same name by Will Eisner. It received lackluster reviews from critics, who deemed it melodramatic, unoriginal, and sexist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her only 2009 film release was the crime drama Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which reunited her with Nicolas Cage,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> playing a prostitute, and again, his love interest. While the film found a limited audience in theaters, it garnered acclaim, appearing on many top ten lists of the year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Further roles and retirement (2010–2014)
Mendes reunited with previous collaborators Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg for the action comedy The Other Guys (2010), in which she portrayed the wife of a mild-mannered forensic NYPD accountant (Ferrell).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was a commercial success, grossing US$170.4 million globally.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2010, she also played the co-worker and the love interest of a committed man in Massy Tadjedin's romantic drama Last Night, alongside Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While she was initially reluctant to star, worrying that the character would "lack originality" and was "too seductive", she agreed to play the role after meeting with Tadjedin; she said: "It was great to connect with a female director and talk about this woman and not objectify her as the other woman but give her a real true life and make her honest ... Thank God I did."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2011, Mendes appeared in an uncredited cameo in Fast Five, reprising her role from 2 Fast 2 Furious. In 2012, she starred in the dramedy Girl in Progress, as a single mom raising her fourteen-year-old daughter, and in the art fantasy drama Holy Motors, as Kay M, a role originally written for Kate Moss. While Girl in Progress earned Mendes an ALMA Award nomination for Favorite Movie Actress, she described Holy Motors as "the coolest, most creative thing I've ever done".<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
In The Place Beyond the Pines (also 2012), a drama directed by Derek Cianfrance and alongside Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper,<ref>THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES, Starring Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, Set for Release on March 29, 2013 | Collider | Page 203904 . Collider.</ref> Mendes portrayed the former lover of a motorcycle stuntman. The film was a moderate commercial success, and Entertainment Weekly, in its review, described her performance as "quietly heartbreaking".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> She also visited Sierra Leone and was featured in the PBS documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, which aired in October 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2013, Mendes appeared in the HBO comedy film Clear History as a formerly heavy-set woman,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in 2014, she starred as a cabaret show performer in Ryan Gosling's directorial debut Lost River, which competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Creepy, Uncle. (December 13, 2012) "Ben Mendelsohn Illustrates How to Catch a Monster" Template:Webarchive. Dreadcentral.com.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thereafter, she retired from the film industry. Speaking of her retirement in 2022, Mendes said:
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Other endeavors
Modeling
Mendes appeared in the Pet Shop Boys' music video for "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" in 1996, Aerosmith's music video for "Hole in My Soul" in 1997, and Will Smith's music video for "Miami" in 1998. She also appeared in the music video for The Strokes' "The End Has No End" in 2004.
In 2005, Mendes was employed by Revlon as an international spokesperson, and participated in their campaign to raise funds for breast cancer research.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In December 2007, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) used a nude photo of Mendes for their anti-fur campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mendes was a spokesmodel for the 2008 Campari calendar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also appeared nude in a 2008 print advertisement for Calvin Klein's Secret Obsession perfume, an ad that United States network executives found too risqué for broadcasting.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Mendes has been a spokesperson for Calvin Klein,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Magnum,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the chocolate milk brand Cocio.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also promoted Thierry Mugler's Angel fragrance,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Reebok<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> shoes, and Pantene shampoo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2011, Mendes appeared in a Peek & Cloppenburg clothing catalog.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Fashion designing
Mendes had a line of bed linens and dinnerware that was sold at Macy's.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February 2013, she partnered with New York & Co. to launch her own fashion line, Eva by Eva Mendes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was also the creative director of the makeup brand CIRCA Beauty, which launched exclusively at Walgreens in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Singing
In 2010, Mendes sang "Pimps Don't Cry", a song featured in The Other Guys,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and also performed a duet with CeeLo Green with the same song.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2011, she recorded a version of "The Windmills of Your Mind".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also featured in the single "Miami" sung by Will Smith which was released in 1998.
Public image
Many media outlets have cited her as one of the world's most beautiful Latin women, and she has been often considered a sex symbol. She once embraced that status, saying it was "partially self-created ... I think at times I play up my sexiness. And there's times where I don't",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> though she does not let it interfere with her film work: "I like it when it doesn't limit my career. It's a part of my life, but on a secondary plane".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nevertheless, her professional trajectory throughout the 2000s tended to gravitate towards parts that relied heavily on her looks.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/> She has not appeared in a film since 2014.
Mendes ranked 54th, 12th, 7th, 7th, and 11th in Maxim magazine's Hot 100 issue in 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2010 respectively,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and appeared several times on the cover.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also ranked 80th, 23rd and 44th in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" supplement in 2004, 2005, 2006.Template:Citation needed She was voted number four in the 2008 edition, and number one in the 2009 edition, of AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> People also named her one of 2011's Most Beautiful at Every Age.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
Mendes began dating music producer George Augusto in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They broke up in 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2008, she entered the Cirque Lodge Rehabilitation Centre in Utah to address a dependency problem related to drugs including alcohol.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In September 2011, she began dating Ryan Gosling, shortly after they filmed The Place Beyond the Pines together.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They have two daughters, born in 2014 and 2016.<ref>Joey Nolfi, "Eva Mendes hopes to return to acting but 'won't do violence' or sexuality", EW.com, May 10, 2022.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> When asked in a 2022 interview if she and Gosling had married, Mendes said that "I like to keep it all mysterious".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Mendes is a pescetarian for ethical and health reasons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also practices Transcendental Meditation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror | Kir | Direct-to-video |
| A Night at the Roxbury | Bridesmaid | ||
| 1999 | My Brother the Pig | Matilda | |
| 2000 | Urban Legends: Final Cut | Vanessa Valdeon | |
| 2001 | Exit Wounds | Trish | |
| Training Day | Sara | ||
| 2002 | All About the Benjamins | Gina | |
| 2003 | 2 Fast 2 Furious | Monica Fuentes | |
| Once Upon a Time in Mexico | Ajedrez Barillo | ||
| Out of Time | Alex Díaz Whitlock | ||
| Stuck on You | April Mercedes | ||
| 2005 | Hitch | Sara Melas | |
| The Wendell Baker Story | Doreen | ||
| Guilty Hearts | Gabriella | ||
| 2006 | Trust the Man | Faith Faison | |
| 2007 | Ghost Rider | Roxanne Simpson | |
| Knocked Up | Herself | Uncredited cameo | |
| We Own the Night | Amada Juarez | ||
| Live! | Katy Courbet | Executive producer | |
| Cleaner | Ann Norcut | ||
| 2008 | The Women | Crystal Allen | |
| The Spirit | Sand Saref | ||
| 2009 | Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans | Frankie Donnenfeld | |
| 2010 | The Other Guys | Dr. Sheila Gamble | |
| Last Night | Laura Nunez | ||
| 2011 | Fast Five | Monica Fuentes | uncredited |
| 2012 | Holy Motors | Kay M. | |
| Girl in Progress | Grace Gutierrez | ||
| The Place Beyond the Pines | Romina | ||
| 2014 | Lost River | Cat |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | ER | Donna | Episode: "Exodus" |
| Mortal Kombat: Conquest | Hanna | Episode: "Thicker Than Blood" | |
| 1999 | V.I.P. | Esmeralda | Episode: "Val the Hard Way" |
| 2000 | The Disciples | Maria Serranco | Television film |
| 2012 | Half the Sky | Herself | Documentary |
| 2013 | Clear History | Jennifer | Television film |
| 2021 | Bluey | Yoga Instructor | Episode: "Born Yesterday"; Voice role |
Music videos
| Year | Artist | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Pet Shop Boys | "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" |
| 1997 | Aerosmith | "Hole in My Soul" |
| 1998 | Will Smith | "Miami" |
| 2003 | Ludacris | "Act a Fool" |
| 2004 | The Strokes | "The End Has No End" |
| 2005 | Tony Yayo | "I Know You Don't Love Me" Feat. G-Unit |
Awards and nominations
References
External links
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- Pages with broken file links
- 1974 births
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Actresses from Glendale, California
- Actresses from Los Angeles
- Actresses from Miami
- American entertainers of Cuban descent
- American film actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- California people in fashion
- Hispanic and Latino American female models
- Hispanic and Latino American actresses
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