Actress & Entrepreneur
Eva Mendes: Biography at a Glance
- Eva Mendes is an actress best known for starring in Training Day, Hitch, and 2 Fast 2 Furious among other hits.
- After putting her acting career on the back burner to focus on spending time at home and raising her young daughters, Mendes has made an impact beyond the big screen.
- She is a co-owner Skura Style, an innovative sponge company with the mission of making the kitchen the happiest part of the home.
- Mendes has also been vocal about body positivity, using her platform to speak out about the unrealistic beauty standards imposed on women by the media.
- Through her fashion brand "Eva by Eva Mendes," she designs clothing that aims to make women feel confident and stylish, promoting body positivity and self-expression.
- In addition to supporting many women's causes, Mendes also participated in Half the Sky, a documentary that examines the lives of many women in developing countries who have suffered through rape, prostitution, slavery, violent marriages, and other forms of oppression.
- Her debut picture book Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries, reminds us all to become the boss of our own thoughts while sharing different approaches to clear our minds of fear and anxiety.
- Based on her varied career and life experiences, she is a sought-after speaker on her life and career, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and women's empowerment.
Biography
Eva Mendes captured the attention of moviegoers in a small, but pivotal role in the critically acclaimed film, Training Day. Since then, Mendes has proved she is adept in both comedic and dramatic roles. In a very short time, she has had the fortunate and unique opportunity to work with such esteemed directors as Carl Franklin, Robert Rodriguez, Antoine Fuqua, the Farrelly Bros. and John Singleton, therefore earning the reputation as a serious actress who is committed to her craft.
Mendes starred in the 2013 film The Place Beyond the Pines and Ghost Rider opposite Nicolas Cage. In the independent film sphere, Mendes starred in The Wendell Baker Story; co-starring Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, and Luke Wilson who is set to direct. She has also been seen in The Other Guys, Lost River and We Own the Night.
Mendes’ first serious role came when she was cast as Denzel Washington’s girlfriend in the box office success, Training Day, for director Antoine Fuqua. Her portrayal led to the celebrated director, Carl Franklin, hiring Mendes for the MGM feature Out of Time, once more starring opposite Denzel Washington. In the same year, Mendes appeared in Once Upon A Time in Mexico opposite Johnny Depp.
Mendes has also starred in the action blockbuster 2 Fast 2 Furious as well as the comedy feature film, All About the Benjamins, starring opposite Ice Cube. She also starred opposite Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear in the Farrelly Bros. comedy, Stuck on You and opposite Will Smith in Hitch.
Mendes is also an international spokesperson for Revlon Cosmetics. Following in the elite footsteps of such beautiful women as Halle Berry, Cindy Crawford and Julianne Moore, Mendes currently appears in Revlon’s print and television advertising campaigns. She is also an active participant and ardent supporter in Revlon’s commitment in the fight against breast cancer.
Mendes, who is Cuban-American, was born in Miami and raised in Los Angeles. It was while Mendes was in college that she began her acting career. She began to study with the respected acting coach Ivana Chubbuck and soon thereafter, Mendes’ desire to appear on the big screen, became a reality. As she continues to grow as an actress, Mendes strives to develop her skills by learning from legendary filmmakers such as Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni and contemporaries like Pedro Almodovar, Spike Jonze and Steven Soderbergh.
