Eva Mendes
Eva de la Caridad Méndez (born March 5, 1974) is an American actress and model. 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 she has co-starred in movies including 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 sung with CeeLo Green. Mendes has been a model and ambassador of Cocio chocolate milk, Magnum ice cream, Revlon, Calvin Klein, Cartier, Thierry Mugler perfume, Reebok, Campari apéritif, Pantene shampoo, Morgan and Peek & Cloppenburg clothes. She designs a fashion collection for New York & Company.
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Early life
Mendes was born in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents Juan Carlos Mendez and Eva Perez Suarez, and 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. Her mother worked at Mann's Chinese Theatre and later for an aerospace company; her father ran a meat distribution business. She attended Hoover High School in Glendale and later attended California State University, Northridge, to study marketing but left college to study acting under Ivana Chubbuck.
Career
Mendes began her acting career after 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 disappointed in her performance and she hired an acting coach. She then appeared in the films 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 and 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 and was one of the first minority actors to play the lead in a hit romantic comedy. She starred in The Wendell Baker Story, Guilty Hearts, Trust the Man, Ghost Rider, We Own the Night, Live! and Cleaner.
In 2008, she was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her performance in The Women. She appeared in The Spirit, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, The Other Guys, Last Night, Fast Five and the spoof video, Funny or Die. In 2012, Eva Mendes visited Sierra Leone and was featured in the PBS documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. She starred in the 2013 movie The Place Beyond the Pines. Entertainment Weekly described her performance as "quietly heartbreaking."
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. She also appeared in the video for "The End Has No End" by The Strokes in 2004. Mendes was employed by Revlon Cosmetics as an international spokeswoman and participant in Revlon's campaign to raise funds for breast cancer research. Mendes appeared nude in a print ad for Calvin Klein's Secret Obsession perfume; the ad 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 modelled in a Morgan campaign. Mendes was a spokesmodel for the 2008 Campari calendar. 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. 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. She appeared in a Peek & Cloppenburg clothing catalog in 2011.
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".
In the media
Mendes was voted number four in the 2008 edition, and number one in the 2009 edition, of AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women. Maxim ranked Mendes number seven in its 2007 Hot 100 issue. She appeared on the cover of Maxim for the second time in November 2007. Maxim ranked Mendes #11 in its 2010 Hot 100 issue. People named her one of 2012 Most Beautiful at Every Age.
Personal life
Mendes dated George Augusto from 2002 to 2010.
In 2011, she began dating her The Place Beyond the Pines co-star Ryan Gosling. They have two daughters: Esmeralda (born on September 12, 2014) and Amada (born on April 29, 2016).
She is a vegetarian for both ethical and health reasons. Mendes practices Transcendental Meditation.
