Eva Mendes

Eva Mendes
Mendes at the 66th Venice International Film Festival in 2009
Born	(1974-03-05) March 5, 1974 Miami, Florida, United States
Occupation	Actress, Model, Singer, Designer
Years active	1998–present

Eva Mendes (born March 5, 1974) is an American actress, model, singer 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 has worked as a spokesmodel for Cocio chocolate milk, Magnum ice cream, Revlon make-up, Calvin Klein underwear and perfume, Cartier jewelery, Thierry Mugler perfume, Reebok trainers, Campari apéritif, Pantene shampoo, Morgan clothes and Peek & Cloppenburg clothes. Mendes is the creator of a home decor line, Vida, sold exclusively at Macy's. She launched a bedding collection in 2008 and a dinnerware collection in 2010. Mendes is a singer: she has recorded a version of The Windmills of Your Mind and has collaborated with Cee Lo Green on a song entitled Pimps Don't Cry. She is dating Ryan Gosling and lives in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Early life

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 Catholic 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.^{citation needed}

Acting career

Mendes at the 2009 Venice Film Festival

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 girlfriend 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, and Ghost Rider. 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.

Modeling career

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." She modelled in a Morgan campaign in 2007. Mendes was a spokesmodel for the 2008 Campari calender. Mendes was announced as the international face of 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 2010, Mendes was the face of chocolate milk brand Cocio. 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. She also modeled in a Peek & Cloppenburg clothing catalog in 2011.

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. People named her one of 2012 Most Beautiful at Every Age.

Designer

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's stores. In 2010, Mendes launched a line of dinnerware at Macy's stores.

Music career

In 2010, Mendes dueted with Cee Lo Green on a song entitled Pimps Don't Cry. In 2011, she recorded a version of The Windmills of Your Mind.

Personal life

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 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.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror	Kir
1998	A Night at the Roxbury	Bridesmaid
1998	Mortal Kombat: Konquest	Hannah	guest star, one episode
1999	My Brother the Pig	Matilda
2000	The Disciples	Maria Serranco
2000	Urban Legends: Final Cut	Vanessa Valdeon
2001	Exit Wounds	Trish
2001	Training Day	Sara Harris
2002	All About the Benjamins	Gina
2003	2 Fast 2 Furious	Monica Fuentes
2003	Once Upon a Time in Mexico	Ajedrez
2003	Out of Time	Alex Díaz Whitlock
2003	Stuck on You	April
2005	Hitch	Sara Melas
2005	The Wendell Baker Story	Doreen
2005	Guilty Hearts	Gabriella
2006	Trust the Man	Faith
2007	Ghost Rider	Roxanne Simpson
2007	Knocked Up	Herself	(uncredited)
2007	We Own the Night	Amada Juarez
2007	Live!	Katy
2007	Cleaner	Ann Norcut
2008	The Women	Crystal Allen
2008	The Spirit	Sand Saref
2009	Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans	Frankie Donnenfeld
2010	The Other Guys	Sheila Gamble
2010	Last Night	Laura
2011	Fast Five	FBI Agent Monica Fuentes	(uncredited cameo)
2012	Girl in Progress	Grace	Completed
2012	The Place Beyond the Pines	Romina	Post-production
2012	Holly Motors		Post-production

External links

• Eva Mendes at the Internet Movie Database