Profile Text
Mendes in 2011, CarlaVanWagoner / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Eva de la Caridad Mendez
Place of Birth: Miami, Florida, U.S.
Date of Birth: March 5, 1974
Ethnicity: Cuban [Spanish, some African, possibly other]
Eva Mendes is an American actress, model, and businessperson. Her roles include the films Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror , My Brother the Pig , Urban Legends: Final Cut , Exit Wounds , Training Day , All About the Benjamins , 2 Fast 2 Furious , and its sequel, Fast Five ; Once Upon a Time in Mexico , Out of Time (2003), Stuck on You , Hitch , The Wendell Baker Story , Guilty Hearts (2005), Trust the Man , Ghost Rider , We Own the Night , Live! , Cleaner (2007), The Women , The Spirit (2008), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , The Other Guys , Last Night (2010), Holy Motors , Girl in Progress , The Place Beyond the Pines , and Lost River ; the made-for-tv movie Clear History ; and the music videos for “Se a vida é (That’s the Way Life Is),” “Hole in My Soul,” “Miami,” “Act a Fool,” “The End Has No End,” and “I Know You Don’t Love Me.” She has been an ambassador for Calvin Klein, Cartier, Reebok, Pantene shampoo, Morgan, and Peek & Cloppenburg, has designed for workwear retailer New York & Company, and is creative director of makeup line CIRCA Beauty.
Eva was born in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents, Eva Perez Suarez, who worked at a movie theatre and an aerospace company, and Juan Carlos Mendes, who ran a meat distribution business. She has said that she has African-Cuban ancestry. She speaks Spanish fluently. Eva was raised mostly by her mother in Los Angeles’s Silver Lake neighborhood.
Eva has two children with her partner, Canadian-born actor, writer, director, musician, and producer Ryan Gosling .
One of Eva’s grandmothers was named Amada.