Eva Mendes

Eva Mendez (Mendes) (born March 5, 1974) is an American actress, model, and businesswoman. She began acting in the late 1990s, and after a series of roles in B-movies such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) and Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), she made a career-changing appearance in Training Day (2001). Since then, Mendes has co-starred in films such as All About the Benjamins, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Ghost Rider, We Own the Night, Stuck on You, Hitch, and The Other Guys. She has appeared in several music videos and has also sung with CeeLo Green. 

Mendes has been a model and ambassador for Cocio chocolate milk, Magnum ice cream, Revlon, Calvin Klein, Cartier, Thierry Mugler perfume, Reebok, Campari apéritif, Pantene shampoo, Morgan, and Peek & Cloppenburg. She designs a fashion collection for New York & Company and is also the creative director of CIRCA Beauty, a makeup line sold at Walgreens.

Eva Mendes was born as Eva de la Caridad Mendez, on March 5, 1974, in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents Eva Perez Suarez and Juan Carlos Mendez. Her mother worked at Mann's Chinese Theatre and later for an aerospace company, and her father ran a meat distribution business. She was raised by her mother in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale after her parents' divorce. 

Mendes was raised a Roman Catholic and at one time even considered becoming a Catholic nun. She has two brothers, Juan Carlos (1963–2016, died from throat cancer) and Carlo, and a sister, Janet. She attended Hoover High School in Glendale, California, and later studied marketing at California State University, Northridge, but left college to pursue acting under Ivana Chubbuck.

Acting

Mendes began her acting career after a talent manager saw her photo in a friend's portfolio. She made her film debut playing the role of "Kir" in Ethan Wiley's direct-to-video Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror. She was disappointed in her performance and she hired an acting coach and subsequently was seen in 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 that of an ill-fated film student in the slasher film Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000).

In 2001, she was seen as "Trish" in Andrzej Bartkowiak's Exit Wounds, starring Steven Seagal, DMX, and Isaiah Washington.

Mendes' breakthrough role came when she appeared in Antoine Fuqua's crime thriller Training Day (2001), alongside Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. She described her role as "pivotal" in her career, stating that it motivated her to keep going as an actress, as she was "bored" doing "terrible cheesy horrible" films before she obtained it. The success of Training Day led to roles in All About the Benjamins, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Once Upon a Time in Mexico (which earned her a nomination at the Teen Choice Awards), Out of Time, and Stuck on You. She was the female lead in the 2005 film Hitch, making her one of the first minority actors to play the lead in a hit romantic comedy. Mendes subsequently starred in The Wendell Baker Story, Guilty Hearts, Trust the Man, Ghost Rider, We Own the Night, Live!, and Cleaner.

In 2008, Mendes was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her performance in the all-female comedy film The Women. Mendes then appeared in The Spirit, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, The Other Guys, Last Night, Fast Five, and a spoof short film for Funny or Die. In 2012, she visited Sierra Leone and was featured in the PBS documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (aired in October 2012).

In 2012, she starred as "Romina" in Derek Cianfrance's crime drama film The Place Beyond the Pines, opposite Ryan Gosling. Entertainment Weekly describing her performance as "quietly heartbreaking". The following year, she appeared in the HBO comedy film Clear History.

In 2013, Mendes appeared in the HBO comedy film Clear History, as a formerly heavy-set woman, 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.

Mendes' last film credit was in the role of "Cat" in Ryan Gosling's fantasy drama Lost River, alongside Christina Hendricks and Iain De Caestecker.

Modeling

Over the years, Mendes has appeared in various music videos.

• 1996: Pet Shop Boys' music video for "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)"
• 1997: Aerosmith's music video for "Hole in My Soul"
• 1998: Will Smith's music video for "Miami"
• 2004: The Strokes' "The End Has No End"

In 2005, Mendes became Revlon's international spokesperson and participated in their campaign to raise funds for breast cancer research. She appeared nude in a print advertisement for Calvin Klein's Secret Obsession perfume, which was banned in the United States. 

In December 2007, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) used a nude photo of Mendes for their anti-fur campaign. She also modeled in a Morgan campaign. She was a spokesmodel for the 2008 Campari calendar. In July 2008, she was announced as the international face of Australia's 30 Days of Fashion & Beauty event. She made guest appearances in that country at the month-long festival in September. 

Mendes has been a spokesperson for Calvin Klein, Magnum, and the chocolate milk brand Cocio. She also promoted Thierry Mugler's Angel fragrance, Reebok shoes, and Pantene shampoo. In 2011, Mendes appeared in a Peek & Cloppenburg clothing catalog.

Other ventures

Mendes has a line of bed linens and dinnerware that is sold at Macy's. In 2010, Mendes sang on "Pimps Don't Cry", a song featured in The Other Guys, and performed a duet with CeeLo Green on "Pimps Don't Cry".

In 2011, she recorded a version of "The Windmills of Your Mind". She is the also creative director of the makeup brand CIRCA Beauty, which launched exclusively at Walgreens in 2015.

Mendes was in a relationship with George Augusto from 2002 to 2010. Since 2011, she had been dating her The Place Beyond the Pines co-star Ryan Gosling. They have two daughters: Esmeralda Amada (born September 12, 2014) and Amada Lee (born April 29, 2016).

Mendes is a pescatarian for both ethical and health reasons. She also practices Transcendental Meditation.

• Voted number four in the 2008 edition, and number one in the 2009 edition, of AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women.
• Ranked 54th, 12th, 7th, 7th, and 11th in Maxim magazine's Hot 100 issue in 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2010 respectively, and appeared several times on the cover.
• People named her one of 2012's Most Beautiful at Every Age.
• Ranked 80th, 23rd, and 44th in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" supplement in 2004, 2005, 2006 respectively.

Film

Television