The Stunning Transformation Of Eva Mendes

Eva Mendes (née de la Caridad Mendez) is known for her movie appearances in cult classic films like "2 Fast 2 Furious," "Hitch," and "The Other Guys," among many others. While she rose to fame as an actor and sex symbol in the early 2000s, Mendes didn't always have her sights set on becoming a movie star. Even so, the unexpected passion she felt for acting turned into a hugely successful career and even led her to her soulmate. 

The first-generation Cuban-American has also dabbled in creative endeavors outside of Hollywood — and she took a decade-long break from acting to focus on motherhood. While she's hinted at a return, Mendes has expressed nothing but contentment for the path she's chosen to walk since welcoming her first child. And she's just as fulfilled by the trajectory her life took before she started a family with fellow actor Ryan Gosling.

Here's a look at how Mendes became one of the biggest names in Tinseltown.

Eva Mendes was just a month old when her parents decided to leave Miami, Florida, for Los Angeles, California. And so she considers L.A. her hometown, for all intents and purposes. "I grew up in L.A., so I'm an L.A. girl," Mendes told Interview back in 2008.

She went on to explain that her childhood was pretty average, despite being raised in Tinseltown. The actor's parents divorced when she was still young, and she shared a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with her mom and siblings. "I basically come from a single-parent household," Mendes told Women's Health. "Although I love my dad, my mom mostly raised four of us on her own."

Through the years, the star has reflected on her humble childhood. In an interview with Marie Claire, Mendes shared, "I was raised by parents who didn't have much. We didn't use whole pieces of paper towel. We shared, or used rags. Mom didn't even want us flushing all the time." Though the family had to be strategic to make ends meet, Mendes recalled her mother routinely talking about how lucky the family was to make do with what they had, as other people are less fortunate. "She made me appreciate that from an early age," Mendes shared with Women's Health.

A few years after her very first film appearance, Eva Mendes was cast to act alongside Denzel Washington as his mistress in "Training Day." The movie not only put her on the map as an A-list actor, but it also launched Mendes' reputation as a sex symbol. One scene in which she's completely naked came to fruition because Mendes proposed the idea to the director, Antoine Fuqua. 

In an interview with W Magazine, she explained her stance on participating in nude scenes. "I'm not an exhibitionist," Mendes asserted. "But, honestly, for my art, I'll do anything, almost. I'll go there." She recognized the delicate balance of baring her body and maintaining a positive reputation. "I've never felt objectified. ... I'm incredibly calculated when it comes to my career," she said. Later, in 2008, she appeared in a Calvin Klein TV ad that controversially featured a nip slip.

Mendes spoke about the suggestive ad with Interview, opining, "It's flattering that people think I'm sexy, but it's not the end-all, be-all." The actor expressed an unwillingness to base her worth on the public's perception of her looks because people are likely to stop regarding her as sexy at some point, and she'd rather be content with her own view of herself. "So, although I'm grateful, I take it with a grain of salt," she added.

Though Eva Mendes described her childhood as having "Cuban food and music and loud singing and yelling around the house all the time" during a 2020 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, she has long maintained that she's just as much American as she is Cuban.

"I don't consider myself a Latin American actress," Mendes told W Magazine back in 2010. She continued, explaining, "I was born and raised here, and I have Cuban parents, but for me, I am the new American girl. It's not only Drew Barrymore and the blond Midwestern girl." Pointing at her face, she powerfully asserted, "This is also what we look like now."

That's not to say she's never faced any obstacles due to her ethnicity — Mendes told the Sydney Morning Herald that in the early days of her career, a casting director told her she looked "too ethnic" to land a role in America. However, she once told Interview that she "would never call it a challenge" to be a Latin American working in Hollywood. "I think being a woman in Hollywood is a big enough challenge," she admitted. 

For a long time, many people believed Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling fell in love after meeting on the set of "The Place Beyond the Pines." However, in 2023, Mendes confessed that she and her former co-star had known each other long before the 2011 movie. "We did not meet on set," she wrote in an Instagram post. Mendes illusively added, "The magic started way before." In 2013, Vulture asked how she and Gosling met, but Mendes declined to elaborate. "That's where I start to shut down, because it gets into personal territory that I don't feel comfortable talking about," she asserted.

What we do know about Mendes and Gosling is that they publicly debuted their romantic relationship toward the end of 2011 — they were spotted holding hands at Disneyland. Their sole joint red carpet appearance was in 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival, which Mendes later revealed to be a challenging event to navigate because she and Gosling wanted to be professional while promoting "The Place Beyond the Pines."

The duo collaborated on another film, "Lost River," in 2014, and by the end of that year, they welcomed their first child — a daughter named Esmeralda. In 2016, Mendes and Gosling added another daughter, Amada, to their family after keeping the pregnancy under wraps. And though they're notoriously private, Mendes hinted in 2022 that their long-term relationship may be more official than they've led the world to believe.

Before she fell in love with Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes wasn't sure if motherhood was in the cards for her. As early as 2010, she spoke on the record about her indecision, telling W Magazine she'd never felt it was her calling to become a mother, and she wasn't sure if it was a journey she wanted to embark on at that point in her life. However, when she and the "Crazy Stupid Love" actor became serious, her thoughts on starting a family became crystal clear.

During a 2019 interview with Women's Health, Mendes reflected, "It was the furthest thing from my mind. [Then] Ryan Gosling happened." She explained, "I mean, falling in love with him. Then it made sense for me to have ... not kids, but his kids. It was very specific to him."

Gosling expressed a similar sentiment during a 2023 conversation with GQ, telling the outlet, "After I met Eva, I realized that I just didn't want to have kids without her," the actor confessed. "There were moments on 'The Place Beyond the Pines' where we were pretending to be a family, and I didn't really want it to be pretend anymore. I realized that this would be a life I would be really lucky to have."

When Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling welcomed their eldest daughter, Esmeralda, in 2014, followed by their youngest, Amada, in 2016, the "Ghost Rider" actor's career goals shifted. While she once felt drawn to the film industry and even considered becoming a producer as a way to carve out more opportunities for women in Hollywood, her desire to fully immerse herself in motherhood took precedence over her professional drive.

In 2020, she told the Sydney Morning Herald, "I feel like, as far as my ambition, it didn't go away, it just shifted onto the children. I applaud and look up to those women who can do it all, but I'm not one of them." Mendes also recognized that she is privileged to afford the choice to be a stay-at-home mom. However, she revealed that as her daughters are getting older, she feels more drawn to returning to her acting career.

While Mendes told Variety in 2022 that she was still focused on showing up for her kids at home, she expressed excitement for what the future holds because the landscape is quite different today compared to what it was at the beginning of her acting hiatus. "There are more opportunities for Latina actresses now, but when I bowed out 10 years ago I wasn't being offered things that weren't specifically Latina," Mendes said. "It is exciting that things are different now."

Eva Mendes spent six years designing fashion collections for her collaboration with New York & Company. Sadly, the line was discontinued when the retailer became a casualty of the pandemic and filed for bankruptcy in July 2020.

Mendes' line touted chic and sophisticated pieces that were wearable and affordable for the everyday woman. At the beginning of 2020, Mendes opened up to People about the inspiration behind her designs. "I use my own memories and photographs of my family to create clothes. I'll randomly text or email [NY & Co.] at four in the morning and say, 'We need to recreate this silk jogger pant with this silk bow blouse, please! My mom wore something like this in the '80s.'"

Mendes' family was involved in more than just the ideation stage. She said Ryan Gosling was her biggest cheerleader, and the women in her family — on her side and his — would offer unfiltered feedback on her designs. "Nobody is going to be more honest than family, and our family is very honest," Mendes said. "It's something I really appreciate because when designing something, you need real feedback." She added that it felt incredibly rewarding when a family member would wear a piece from her line because she knows them well enough to know they wouldn't dress in something they didn't like just to flatter her; rather, it was a sign that they genuinely loved the clothing.

In May 2023, Mendes revealed on Instagram that she's "looking to collab with a cool designer that has a reasonable price point." Perhaps we'll see more of her designs in the near future!