Though making many smaller roles in movies, she was little known until playing the girlfriend of Denzel Washington's character in "Training Day." After that role, she has been featured more in more in a wide range of acting from comedic to dramatic. These new roles gave her the ability to work with many directors held in high esteem in Hollywood, such as Robert Rodriguez (Once Upon a Time in Mexico), Carl Franklin (Out of Time), John Singleton (2 Fast 2 Furious), Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), and the Farrelly Bros. (Stuck on You), helping to give her a reputation as a serious actress capable of many diverse roles.
Most recently, Eva is starring in an independent film, "The Wendell Baker Story" with co-stars Owen and Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, and Luke Wilson directing. Before that, her biggest movie was "Hitch", a romantic comedy with her playing opposite of Will Smith.
Eva is currently (2005) working on the sci-fi/ comic book adaptation of "Ghost Rider", starring with Nicholas Cage, which is directed by Mark Stephen Johnson and is planned to be released in 2006.
Along with acting, Eva is employed by Revlon Cosmetics as an international spokesperson. She joins the elite actresses and models such as Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, and Cindy Crawford who appear in Revlon's television and print ads. She is also a passionate supporter and active participant in Revlon's fight against breast cancer.
Eva's goals to improve her acting skills are to work with contemporary directors/filmmakers such as Steven Soderbergh, Spike Jonze, and Pedro Almodovar, and learning from renowned directors/filmmakers such as Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni.
Young, talented and beautiful, Latino actress Eva Mendes rose to stardom on sheer luck and timing. Just five years prior to her starring role in “2 Fast 2 Furious” (2003), the sequel to the unexpected hit, “The Fast and the Furious” (2001), Mendes wasn’t even thinking about an acting career, much less actively pursuing one. But fortune shined it’s light on the energetic actress, and with her passion and zest for life, seized the moment and never looked back.Born on March 5, 1974 in Houston, Texas, Mendes moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was two years old. Of Cuban descent, her parents fled the island in 1959 before the revolution, but ultimately split when Mendes was ten. Her mother worked as an accountant to support the family, and was very strict on Mendes and her three elder siblings. Mendes later attended Cal State Northridge where she majored in marketing, though she wasn’t terribly interested in the subject.
Then a stroke of dumb luck changed her life forever: her neighbor—a photographer—took a photographs of her at a garage sale. When the photographer was applying for a job, a casting agent noticed the pictures of Mendes and asked to meet her. Mendes was called into their office and was soon cast in her first movie, the straight-to-video release “Children of the Corn V: Field of Terror” (1998). The experience wasn’t a good one for Mendes: her performance was, according to her, “horrific.”
Determined not to let her career be defined by a cheesy horror flick, Mendes joined a few acting classes and spent the next few years in serious study of her craft. Along the way, she landed a few roles in commercials and music videos, including Will Smith’s “Miami” and Aerosmith’s “Hole in My Soul.” Mendes also continued to appear in less awful movies, including “Night at the Roxbury” (1998), starring SNL regulars Will Farrell and Chris Kattan, and “Urban Legends: Final Cut” (2000), with Jennifer Morrison and Matthew Davis.
Her break-out role, however, was in the critically acclaimed “Training Day” (2001), starring Oscar winner Denzel Washington. Though her role as Washington’s girlfriend was small, it was memorable; in a film revealing the acting chops of its lead actors, Mendes revealed something a bit different: her entire body. Mendes went on to appear in Steven Seagal’s comeback actioner, “Exit Wounds” (2001), co-staring rap star DMX. She also had a supporting role in “All About the Benjamins” (2002), a diamond heist comedy starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps. Then came her star turn in “2 Fast 2 Furious”, co-starring Paul Walker and Tyrese.
Mendes played a U.S. Customs agent who recruits Walker and Tyrese to ensnare a drug kingpin. Her flare for action led Paul Rodriguez to cast her in the third installment of his Mariachi trilogy, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” (2003), in which she played a duplicitous Mexican Federale to Johnny Depp’s rogue CIA agent. Then the actress reunited with Washington for director carl Franklin’s thriller “Out of Time” (2003), playing the estranged wife of Washington’s Florida chief of police whose life falls apart when he becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. To top off her career, Mendes became a spokesmodel for Revlon. As she became more a presence in the pop culture, her on-screen profile rose as well with her winning starring role as Will Smith's love interest, a gossip reporter unknowingly falling for a relationship consultant she's also pursuing a story about, in the romantic comedy "Hitch" (2005).
MOVIES & TELEVISION:
The Spirit(2009) .... Sand Saref
The women(2008) .... Crystal Allen
We Own the Night (2007) .... Amanda Juarez
Live! (2007) .... Katy
Ghost Rider (2007) .... Roxanne Simpson
3 & 3 (2005) .... Gabriella
Trust the Man (2005) .... Faith
The Wendell Baker Story (2005) .... Doreen
Hitch (2005/I) .... Sara
Stuck on You (2003) .... April
Out of Time (2003/I) .... Alex Diaz Whitlock
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) .... Ajedrez
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) .... Monica Fuentes
All About the Benjamins (2002) .... Gina
Training Day (2001) (as Eva Mendez) .... Sara
Exit Wounds (2001) .... Trish
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) .... Vanessa Valdeon
The Disciples (2000) (TV) .... Maria Serranco
"V.I.P." .... Esmarelda / ... (2 episodes, 1999)
- Val Goes to Town (1999) TV Episode .... Esmerelda
- Val the Hard Way (1999) TV Episode (as Eva Mendez) .... Esmarelda
My Brother the Pig (1999) .... Matilda
"Mortal Kombat: Conquest" .... Hanna (1 episode, 1998)
- Thicker Than Blood (1998) TV Episode (as Eva Mendez) .... Hanna
A Night at the Roxbury (1998) .... Bridesmaid
Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) (V) (as Eva Mendez) ....
Kir
"ER" .... Donna (1 episode, 1998)
- Exodus (1998) TV Episode (as Eva Mendez) .... Donna
PRODUCER:
Live! (2007) (executive producer)
MUSIC VIDEOS:
The End Has No End - The Stokes
Miami - Will Smith
"It's fun to be a woman. It's fun to flirt and wear makeup and have boobs."
"The celebrity world can be so ugly. Everyone seems to have slept with everyone else and it's some sort of strange weird cycle. I don't want to get into that."
"I don't go to premieres. I attend film openings I'm in, and that's about it. Fame and celebrity doesn't matter to me. The longevity of my career does."
