Eva Mendes (born March 5, 1974) is an American actress, model and homeware designer. 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 broke into the Hollywood mainstream with an appearance in
Training Day (2001). She has since starred in many films including All About the Benjamins (2002);
2 Fast 2 Furious,Once Upon a Time in Mexico and
Stuck on You (2003);
Hitch (2005);Ghost Rider and We Own the Night (both 2007);The Spirit (2008);
Bad Lieutenant : Port of Call New Orleans (2009); The Other Guys and
Last Night (both 2010).
Mendes is the creator of a home decor line, Vida, sold exclusively
at Macy's. A bedding collection was launched in 2008 and a dinnerware collection was launched in 2010. She has also appeared as a model in music videos and in advertisements for products including
Revlon, Calvin Klein, Cartier, Magnum ice cream,
Thierry Mugler, Reebok and
Pantene. She is dating
Ryan Gosling and lives in the
Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Mendes was born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents, and was raised in the Los Angeles
suburb of Glendale by her mother after her parents' divorce;
Mendes has said that her mother (who was a stay-at-home mom until she became an accountant when Eva went to school) "suffered so much to make my life OK" during her early years.
Mendes was raised a Roman Cactholic and aspired to be a nun
.
She attended Hoover High School in Glendale and later attended California State University, Northridge to study marketing, but dropped out after wanting to begin an acting career. She studied acting under
Ivana Chubbuck
While Mendes "always had high hopes" for herself,
she didn't consider an acting career until a talent manager saw her photo in a friend's portfolio.
Her first film appearance was in the direct-to-video
Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror. Mendes was "so ashamed" by her performance in the film that she decided to hire an acting coach so that she wouldn't "squirm" when watching herself in future roles.
In this period of her career, she also starred in
A Night at the Roxbury,
Mortal Kombat: Conquest,
My Brother the Pig,
The Disciples,
Urban Legends: Final Cut and
Exit Wounds.
Mendes' breakthrough role came when she appeared in
Training Day as the wife of
Denzel Washington's character. She found it to be a fulfilling experience: "I thought, 'This is what people meant about acting."
That performance 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 comedy
Hitch opposite Will Smith. They were the first minority actors to play leads in a hit romantic comedy.
She then starred in
The Wendell Baker Story,
Guilty Hearts,
Trust the Man,
Ghost Rider and
Knocked Up. In 2007, she starred alongside
Joaquin Phoenix,
Mark Wahlberg, and
Robert Duvall in the film
We Own the Night. She also starred in
Live! and
Cleaner.
In 2008, she received a
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her performance in
The Women.
She next starred in
The Spirit,
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,
The Other Guys,
Last Night and
Fast Five. In August 2010, Mendes appeared in a
Funny or Die video spoof, selling her "S.E.X. tape".
She also sang for the Funny or Die music video "Pimps Don't Cry," a song featured in
The Other Guys, released on August 6, 2010.
Mendes appeared in
Will Smith's video
"Miami" and the
Pet Shop Boys' music video for
"Se a vida é (That's the way life is)" in 1996 and
Aerosmith's video
"Hole in My Soul" in 1997. Mendes was employed by
Revlon Cosmetics as an international spokeswoman and was also a supporter and active participant in Revlon's campaign to raise funds for
breast cancer research.
Mendes appeared nude in an ad for
Calvin Klein's Secret Obsession perfume. Since there was exposure of her
nipples in the ad, it was banned from airing in the United States.
In 2007, she was named as an ambassador for
Cartier. In December 2007,
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) used a nude photo of Mendes for their anti-fur campaign alongside the tagline "Fur? I'd rather go naked."
Mendes is also a spokesmodel for the 2008 Calendar of Campari, inspired in fairy tales, by photographer Marino Parisotto.
Mendes was announced as the international face o Australia's 30 Days of Fashion & Beauty event in July 2008. She made guest appearances in that country at the month-long festival in September.
In October 2008, she toured various stores in Europe including
Harrods to promote
Calvin Klein's Seductive Comfort line of lingerie.
In 2009, Mendes was announced as a Pleasure Ambassador for ice cream brand
Magnum. In March 2011, it was announced that Mendes will be a new spokeswoman for
Thierry Mugler's Angel fragrance.
Also in 2011, she was named as the brand ambassador for
Reebok Easytone trainers
and
Pantene shampoo.
Mendes was voted as No. 4 in the 2008 edition, and No. 1
in the 2009 edition, of
AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women.
Maxim ranked Mendes #7 in its 2007 Hot 100 issue.
She also made her second
Maxim cover in the November 2007 issue
. Maxim ranked Mendes #11 in its 2010 Hot 100 issue.
Mendes runs a home decor line, Vida, with her former longterm partner George Augusto. On September 4, 2008, Mendes announced she was launching a line of bed linens available in Macy'sstores.
In 2010, Mendes launched a line of dinnerware at Macy's stores.
Mendes does not want to have children and has described marriage as "a very archaic kinda thing. I don't think it fits in my world today."
She was in a relationship with music producer George Augusto from 2002 to 2010 She began dating
Ryan Gosling in September 2011.
She lives in
Los Feliz, Los Angeles.
Mendes spent several weeks at the
Cirque Lodge addiction facility in 2008 to address "some personal issues".
She later said that she will never publicly disclose details of her condition because "I have to think of the pain it might bring my mother."
She now attends therapy sessions which have "enriched my life. I come from a family and a heritage where you don't really go to therapy unless you're crazy. I want people to know that that's so not the case."
In 2011, Mendes visited Sierra Leone to speak with rape victims and raise awareness of the problems in the area.
This is her Picture,,,,,,,,