Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes | |
---|---|
Mendes in Paris in January 2008 | |
Born | Eva Mendes |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1998-present |
Eva Mendes (born March 5,[1]) is an American actress. She began acting in the late 1990s, and became known after a series of roles in several major Hollywood films, including 2 Fast 2 Furious, Hitch, Training Day and We Own the Night.
Biography
Early life
As a child she lived in both Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles, California. She never saw herself as an actress while she was young and deigned to pursue other interests. She attended Hoover High School in Glendale, California and later attended California State University, Northridge to study Marketing, but dropped out after meeting boyfriend Zedrick Threatt, who helped her to seek an acting career. She studied with Ivana Chubbuck.
Career
One day she caught the eye of an agent who convinced her to pursue acting more steadily. Mendes worked her way up through commercials to music videos (including an appearance 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) to guest roles in soap operas and supporting film roles.
She received her first big-screen break when she appeared in the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Training Day. That performance led to roles in Stuck on You, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and as the female lead in the comedy Hitch opposite Will Smith. Her role in Once Upon a Time in Mexico also gave her a nomination at the Teen Choice Awards. Mendes has also been in commercials for Gushers, Revlon, and Levi's. Mendes costarred in Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage, and most recently she starred alongside Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, and Robert Duvall in the film We Own the Night.
Along with acting, Eva is employed by Revlon Cosmetics as an international spokeswoman. She joins such elite actresses and models 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.
Maxim ranked her #7 in its 2007 Hot 100 issue.[2] Mendes also made her second Maxim cover in the November 2007 issue.[3]
Mendes, despite resisting offers from Playboy, appeared naked in Flaunt Magazine. Although her breasts weren't exposed, readers did get to see her bare back and buttocks. Mendes said about the shoot, "I actually did a little nude shot. You won't see anything. I was covering myself... but I love Flaunt. I think their artwork is some of the best artwork out there as far as photography is concerned, so I took it off. I felt really comfortable,it was fun. There's something really liberating about it."
In December 2007, Mendes posed nude for the anti-fur campaign of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) 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.[4]
In 2008, Eva starred in The Women, a comedy ensemble film featuring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening and Debra Messing. The film, which was produced by Victoria Pearman and Mick Jagger of Jagged Films, Bill Johnson of Inferno Productions, and English, is being released by Picturehouse, a joint venture of HBO and New Line Cinema.
Mendes was voted as No. 4 in the 2008 edition of AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women.
Personal life
It was reported on January 31, 2008 Mendes has been in a rehab facility in Utah to battle a substance abuse problem for several weeks. Her representative tells TMZ "Eva has been working hard for the past year and made a positive decision to take some much-needed time off to proactively attend to some personal issues that, while not critical, she felt deserved some outside professional support. Out of respect for Eva's privacy, we do not wish to discuss further details."[5]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror | Kir | |
A Night at the Roxbury | Bridesmaid | ||
1999 | My Brother the Pig | Matilda | |
2000 | The Disciples | Maria Serranco | |
Urban Legends: Final Cut | Vanessa Valdeon | ||
2001 | Exit Wounds | Trish | |
Training Day | Sara Harris | ||
2002 | All About the Benjamins | Gina | |
2003 | 2 Fast 2 Furious | Monica Fuentes | |
Once Upon a Time in Mexico | Ajedrez | ||
Out of Time | Alex Diaz Whitlock | ||
Stuck on You | April | ||
2005 | Hitch | Sara Melas | |
The Wendell Baker Story | Doreen | ||
3 & 3 | Gabriella | ||
2006 | Trust the Man | Faith | |
2007 | Ghost Rider | Roxanne Simpson | |
Knocked Up | Herself | (uncredited) | |
We Own the Night | Amada Juarez | ||
Live! | Katy | ||
2008 | Cleaner | Ann Norcut | |
The Women | Crystal Allen | post-production | |
2009 | The Spirit[6] | Sand Saref | post-production |
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- ^ Age 28 as of 10/07 according to November 2007 issue of Latina Magazine, although sometimes 1978 is listed, for instance at AskMen.com and as mentioned on Entertainment Tonight on March 16, 2007.
- ^ "Hot 100". Maxim. 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
- ^ "November Issue Preview". Maxim Magazine Online. November 2007. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
- ^ Calender Pictures
- ^ Eva Mendes checks into rehab
- ^ Borys Kit (2007-08-22). "Mendes moved to join 'Spirit'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
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External links
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