Eva Mendes captured the attention of moviegoers in a small, but pivotal role in the critically acclaimed film, Training Day. Since then, she has proved she is adept in both comedic and dramatic roles. Since arriving on the motion picture scene, she has had the opportunity to work with an esteemed and diverse group of directors and co-stars, earning the reputation as a serious actress who is committed to her craft. Mendes’ first serious role came when she was cast as Denzel Washington’s girlfriend in Training Day, for director Antoine Fuqua. Her portrayal led to the celebrated director, Carl Franklin, hiring Mendes for Out of Time, once more starring opposite Denzel Washington. In the same year, Mendes appeared in Robert Rodriguez’s film, Once Upon A Time in Mexico opposite Johnny Depp. Mendes has also starred in the action blockbuster 2 Fast 2 Furious, the comedy feature film, All About the Benjamins opposite Ice Cube, and the Farrelly Brothers comedy, Stuck on You opposite Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear.
Eva went on to star opposite Will Smith and Kevin James in the Columbia Pictures comedy blockbuster, Hitch. She subsequently co-starred in Trust the Man, opposite Julianne Moore, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Billy Crudup, directed by Bart Freundlich and starred opposite Nicolas Cage in Sony Pictures’ supernatural action-adventure, Ghost Rider, based on the Marvel Comic.
She starred in the gritty, critically-acclaimed 2007 drama, We Own the Night, opposite Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Robert Duval, as well as the independent feature, LIVE!, which also marked her debut as an executive producer. Eva co-starred in the all-star remake of The Women, for director/writer/producer Diane English, with Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett-Smith, as well as the fantasy thriller, The Spirit, opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Gabriel Macht and Scarlett Johanssen, directed by Sin City and 300 creator Frank Miller. Eva will be seen next in Last Night opposite Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington and Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which reunites her with Nicolas Cage.
Mendes, who is Cuban-American, was born in Miami in 1975 and raised in Los Angeles, where her mother was as an accountant for an aerospace company and her father worked as a meat distributor. She began honed her acting skills with the respected acting coach Ivana Chubbuck and soon thereafter, made her dreams of becoming a working actress a reality.