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Early Life

Eva Mendes was born on March 5^th, 1974 in Miami, Florida, United States. Her Cuban parents were divorced while she was still a child and she moved to Los Angeles, California where she was raised by her mother in the Echo Park neighbourhood. She is the youngest of four children with two sisters and one brother. She attended Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, California before moving to California State University in Northridge to study marketing. While at university she was spotted by a local photographer at a friends garage sale who invited her to model as part of his portfolio. The photos were later seen by a Hollywood casting agent who encouraged Mendez to pursue a career in acting. Soon after she decided to follow his advice and abandon studying marketing and enlisted the help of the respected acting coach Ivana Chubbuck. While under Chubbuck’s tuition she appeared in numerous music videos most notably for Will Smith's "Miami", Pet Shop Boy’s "Se a vida é (That’s the way life is)" and Aerosmith's "Hole in My Soul". Her first T.V. role came in 1998 when she was cast in one episode of the hit hospital drama E.R. and her first film appearance was in the direct-to-video Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror later that same year.

Career Highlights

Mendes spent the next few years struggling to get noticed in Hollywood with a series of appearances in low budget movies that were mainly considered as flops. In 2001 she had a supporting role in the surprise hit Steven Seagal film Exit Wounds. She received her first big-screen break shortly after when she appeared in Antoine Fuqua’s crime thriller Training Day. The film follows two LAPD narcotics detectives, played by Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, over a 24-hour period in the violent gang run neighbourhoods of South Los Angeles. Mendes played a supporting role as Sara, Washington’s mistress. The film became a huge hit staying in the box office Top Ten until the seventh week of release and eventually grossing over $100 million worldwide. She was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress at the American Latino Media Arts Awards for her performance. Later that year she starred alongside Ice Cube and Mike Epps in the action comedy All About the Benjamins. Mendes played the most prominent role of her career at that point as Gina, the trusting wife of a fast talking con-man(Epps) who is kidnapped. Despite the commercial failure of the film Mendes’s performance did not go unnoticed with several critics describing her role as one of the movies few highlights.

Despite her breakthrough Mendes did not reappear on the big screen until 2003 when she was cast in the second instalment of The Fast and the Furious film series, 2 Fast 2 Furious. Co-starring Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson, Mendes played Monica Fuentes, a U.S. customs agent working undercover for a ruthless Argentinean drug lord. The film was a big hit ranking #1 at the U.S. box office for its opening weekend and achieving a total worldwide gross of $235 million by the end of its run. For her second movie of the year she was named in an all star cast that included Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke in Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez it is the final film in his "Mariachi Trilogy", which also includes El Mariachi and Desperado. Mendes played the role of Ajedrez, a government agent who is also the daughter of the leader of a Mexican drug cartel. The film was generally well received and grossed just under $100 million, well above its $29 million budget. Later that year she appeared alongside Denzel Washington for the second time in Out of Time and in the Farrelly brothers comedy Stuck on You. She was nominated for the Breakout Female Movie Star at the Teen Choice Awards for her 2003 roles but lost out to Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan.

Towards the end of 2004 Mendes began filming the romantic comedy Hitch with Will Smith and Kevin James, which was released in February 2005. She starred as Sara a New York gossip columnist who is determined to ruin a professional matchmaker, played by Smith, who had arranged a bad date for one of her best friends. However the pair begin to date before she discovers Smith is the so called "date doctor". The movie was a big hit in the U.S. among audiences and critics alike and was named as the Tenth highest grossing film of the year domestically. Her next role came in the comedy drama The Wendell Baker Story, the directing debut of Luke Wilson and his eldest brother Andrew Wilson. Mendes was cast as Doreen the love interest of Luke Wilson’s title character, a good-hearted ex-con who is fighting corruption at a care home for seniors. Her final appearance of the year came in Guilty Hearts, a film consisting of six short stories with Mendes starring in the episode entitled "Outskirts".

Her only film of 2006 was Bart Freundlich’s romantic comedy Trust the Man. Mendes played a supporting role in the movie which starred David Duchovny, Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The comedy follows the romantic escapades of two New York couples who each face extramarital temptations. The movie received generally good reviews from the critics and Mendes was nominated in the Outstanding Actress category by the ALMA for her performance as Faith, a old flame from Crudup's past.

Her first film of 2007 was Ghost Rider, a Hollywood take on the popular Marvel Comic superhero. With Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who morphs into a demon vigilante, Mendez starred as Roxanne, a journalist who is also Blaze’s childhood sweetheart. Despite mixed reviews from the critics the movie was a big success at the box office spending two weeks at # 1 in the U.S., including the President's Day holiday weekend, and eventually grossing over $225 million worldwide. Her next release was the crime drama We Own the Night co-starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Robert Duvall. Mendes played the role of Amanda, the girlfriend of Phoenix’s character, Bobby, who see their relationship strained when Bobby is sent undercover to infiltrate a group of Russian gangsters. She was next seen as the television executive, Katy, alongside David Krumholtz in Live!. The comedy tells the story of the development of a reality T.V. show where six contestants play Russian roulette to win money. Her final role of the year saw her star with Samuel L. Jackson and Ed Harris in the crime thriller Cleaner, as a widow convinced her husbands death is part of an elaborate police corruption plot.

In 2008 Mendes starred in The Women, a comedy ensemble film featuring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Debra Messing. The screenplay is an updated version of the 1939 film directed by George Cukor, which was based on a 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce. Mendes played the role of Crystal Allen, a perfume salesgirl in Saks Fifth Avenue, who embarks on an affair with Ryan’s husband. Despite the mostly negative reviews in the press, the film was a moderate box office success ranking #4 behind Righteous Kill, The Family That Preys, and Burn After Reading for its opening weekend. Later that year she starred with Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson in Frank Miller’s The Spirit. The film is based on the comic strip character of the same name created by Will Eisner. Mendes was cast as Sand Saref, a tragic anti-heroine from the criminal underworld who seduces and murders wealthy men. Despite being panned by the critics the movie has earned a large cult following since its release on DVD and Blu-ray.

As of June 2009 Mendes has finished filming Massy Tadjedin’s romantic drama Last Night, which is awaiting release later in the year and has signed up to appear in her second film with Nicolas Cage, Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

Eva Mendes Filmography

1998 - Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror - Kir

1998 - A Night at the Roxbury - Bridesmaid

1999 - My Brother the Pig - Matilda

2000 - Urban Legends: Final Cut - Vanessa Valdeon

2001 - Exit Wounds - Trish

2001 - Training Day - Sara Harris

2001 - 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 - 3 & 3 - Gabriella

2006 - Trust the Man - Faith

2007 - Ghost Rider - Roxanne Simpson

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 - Last Night - Laura

Eva Mendes Trivia

• She is a fan of Scottish Indie Pop group Belle and Sebastian.
• In 2007 she posed naked in a edition of the Italian Vogue.
• Mendes was voted # 1 in the 2009 edition of AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women.
• Mendes is employed by Revlon Cosmetics as an international spokeswoman, along with Halle Berry and Cindy Crawford who appear in Revlon's advertising campaigns.
• In 2008, Mendes was outspoken in her support for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
• She was admitted to the Cinque Lodge rehab facility in Utah reportedly to battle substance abuse issues in 2008.
• Mendes is currently writing a children’s book titled "Crazy Leggs Beshee".

• Before she got her big break, she worked at a "Hot Dog on a Stick" restaurant in the Glendale Galleria Mall in California.

Eva Mendes Links