October 16, 2024, 6:23 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
After Eva Mendes appeared in numerous film productions in the 2000s, roles have become increasingly rare in recent years. She made her last film in 2014, not because her success had waned but because she consciously decided against acting in favor of her family.
Eva Mendes last appeared in front of the camera in 2014 for the film Lost City – the directorial debut of her partner Ryan Gosling. In the same year, she gave birth to their first daughter, and two years later, another daughter completed the family. Since then, Mendes has devoted herself to her two children and has made a conscious decision not to take on any more film roles.
Overview
Eva Mendes on acting
It wasn’t a lack of roles on offer, however, but rather Eva Mendes was bothered by the choice of film characters. Due to her parents’ Cuban roots, she was only offered stereotypical roles. “It was tiring having to fight for the good roles,” admits the 50-year-old in an interview with the industry magazine Variety.
She continues: “Today, there are more opportunities for Latina actresses, but when I turned my back on acting ten years ago, I was only offered things that were tailored to Latinas.”
In a new interview with Good Morning America, Mendes spoke again about her decision to retire from acting. She explains that after the movie The Place Beyond The Pines, in which she starred with Ryan Gosling, she had reached a sort of peak in her career: “I just worked with Ryan Gosling, who is the best. It was such a great moment in my career that I thought: this is a good time to quit like Seinfeld and just go.”
Although her daughters are now getting older, Mendes is rather cautious about returning to acting. She said in the interview: “I don’t know when I’ll return. If there are interesting roles. I quit at a time when I felt I had already done everything.”
A career behind the camera?
Eva briefly flirted with the idea of working behind the camera: “There was just a point where I thought to myself: ‘I’m going to create my own opportunities and become a producer and create my own material.'” But she quickly threw this idea out as she realized: “It didn’t feel like it was worth it for me.”
Family is Eva Mendes’ priority today
Eva is currently focusing on her family, dedicating her full attention to her two daughters, Esmeralda Amada and Amada Lee. She candidly admits, “I don’t really miss acting. Right now, I prefer to stay at home with my children.”
Mendes also disclosed that she and Gosling have a “tacit agreement”: he continues his acting career while she stays at home to care for the children and pursue other business ventures. “When we became parents, my acting career stopped,” says the 50-year-old.
However, Mendes is not ruling out a return to the big screen. Above all, she is pleased that a lot has happened in the industry over the past ten years. “It’s exciting that things have changed, so who knows what I’ll be doing in the future.”
Fashion label and stylish kitchen sponges
Professionally, Mendes has been far from idle. In recent years, Eva has built up another mainstay: Together with the label “New York & Company,” she has launched her own fashion collection. She has been working with the American company since 2017. The pieces from her collection are available not only online but also in over 50 shop-in-shops and 19 Eva Mendes boutiques in America.
She has also teamed up with the company “Skura Style.” For a long time, Eva was looking for kitchen sponges that could clean even heavily soiled cooking utensils without falling apart or giving off a musty smell. This is how she came across the company that specializes in kitchen sponges. The sponges have an antimicrobial surface that indicates when it is time to use a new sponge. This venture is certainly an unconventional choice for a former actress.
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Ex-actress is now a children’s book author
In mid-September, Eva Mendes published her first children’s book called Desi, Mami and the Never-Ending Worries. She joked: “I think they love it, and they’re both really tough critics.” Particularly touching was a moment with her eldest daughter, Esmeralda, which Mendes described in the interview: “My little daughter, who just turned ten, was having a difficult day, and I swear I went into her room, and she’s reading the book.” This moment deeply moved her: “It really touched me,” she reflected.
Mendes went on to explain how the book not only helps to ease her daughters’ worries but also to connect with them on a deeper level, especially when they have little time together. In an Instagram post, she said: “Sometimes, just a few minutes are all it takes to connect with the kids. I think it’s essential to read books with children.”
The 50-year-old also emphasized that the book opens doors to talk about many topics that were often not addressed in her own childhood: “It used to be said: ‘Children have no worries, they’re just children. But children do have worries! We live in a different era now, one where communication between parents and children is essential.”