The Memoir Of Ms. Butterfly

Eva de la Caridad Méndez, Early life. Mendes was born on March 5, 1974, in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents Eva Pérez Suárez and Juan Carlos Méndez. Her mother raised her in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake after her parent’s divorce.

 Eva Perez Suarez is the mother of actress Eva Mendes. Besides Eva Mendes, she also has two other daughters, Becky Mendes and Janet Mendes & a son Juan Carlos Méndez Jr., who passed away in 2016 from throat cancer.

 She was married to Juan Carlos Mendes, but they got divorced, and she raised her children as a single mother. She worked at Mann’s Chinese Theatre and later for an aerospace company, and her ex-husband, Juan Carlos Mendes, had a meat transportation business. After the divorce, her ex-husband married Caridad Corrales, and their son, Carlo Mendez, is also an actor.

Mendes began her acting career after a talent manager saw her photo in a friend’s portfolio. Her first film role was that of one in a group of young people who become lost in middle America in the direct-to-video horror film Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror.

 Mendes was disappointed in her performance and soon hired an acting coach. She subsequently took on the role of a bridesmaid in the comedy A Night at the Roxbury (1998) with Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan, a housekeeper in the fantasy family film My Brother the Pig (1999) with Scarlett Johansson, and that of an ill-fated film student in the slasher film Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000).

Mendes appeared in the Steven Seagal action thriller Exit Wounds (2001), which made over US$73 million worldwide. According to Mendes, her voice was dubbed in the editing, with a producer telling her that she “didn’t sound intelligent enough.

 Her breakthrough came later in 2001 with her performance as the mistress of a corrupt cop in Antoine Fuqua’s crime thriller Training Day, alongside Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. She described her role as “pivotal” in her career, stating that it motivated her to keep going as an actress, as she was “bored” doing “terrible cheesy horrible” films before she obtained it. Training Day was a box office hit, grossing US$104.5 million.

Her role in Training Day led to more significant film parts, and Mendes soon established herself as a Hollywood actress. While her solo film release in 2002 was the crime comedy All About the Benjamins, in which she played the girlfriend of a con artist, Mendes had roles in four studio feature films released throughout 2003.

 2 Fast 2 Furious teamed her with Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson. Portraying a United States Customs Service agent working undercover for a notorious Argentine drug lord. The film gave Mendes a much wider exposure, grossing over US$236 million globally. Next, the Western action film Once Upon a Time in Mexico saw her star with Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek as the daughter of a Mexican drug lord. While reviews for the film were mixed, it made US$98.1 million.

Mendes reunited with Denzel Washington for the thriller Out of Time, in which she played the soon-to-be ex-wife of a well-respected chief of police. The film was a moderate commercial success.

 In his film review, Roger Ebert described Mendes’ role as a “curiously forgiving character. Who feels little rancor for the straying [husband] and apparently still likes him; maybe there would have been more suspense if she were furious with him.

 Her last 2003 film was the comedy Stuck on You, with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, in which she played an aspiring actress.

She starred as the love interest of a professional dating consultant (Will Smith) in her next film, Hitch (2005), which made her one of the first minority actors to play the lead in a mainstream romantic comedy.

 USA Today described it as “her best screen role to date. Detroit Free Press remarked: “Smith and Mendes are terrific together. He brings her game up so high you’d think she has had as many good parts as Smith.” Hitch made US$368.1 million in its global theatrical run. In 2005, Mendes starred in the little-seen film The Wendell Baker Story and Guilty Hearts.

Mendes at the 2012 TIFF premiere of The Place Beyond the Pines

Mendes reunited with previous collaborators Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg for the action comedy The Other Guys (2010), in which she portrayed the wife of a mild-mannered forensic NYPD accountant (Ferrell).

 It was a commercial success, grossing US$170.4 million globally. In 2010, she also played the co-worker and the love interest of a committed man in Massy Tadjedin’s romantic drama Last Night, alongside Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington.

 While initially reluctant to star, worrying that the character would “lack originality” and was “too seductive,” she agreed to play the role after meeting with Tadjedin.

 She said: “It was great to connect with a female director and talk about this woman and not objectify her as the other woman but give her a real true life and make her honest. Thank God I did.

In 2011, Mendes appeared in an uncredited cameo in Fast Five, reprising her role from 2 Fast 2 Furious. In 2012, she starred in the dramedy Girl in Progress as a single mom raising her fourteen-year-old daughter and in the art fantasy drama Holy Motors as Kay M, a role initially written for Kate Moss.

 While Girl in Progress earned Mendes an ALMA Award nomination for Favorite Movie Actress, she described Holy Motors as “the coolest, most creative thing I’ve ever done.

In The Place Beyond the Pines (also 2012), a drama directed by Derek Cianfrance and alongside Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, Mendes portrayed the former lover of a motorcycle stuntman.

 The film was a moderate commercial success in its review, and Entertainment Weekly described her performance as “quietly heartbreaking.” She also visited Sierra Leone and was featured in the PBS documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, which aired in October 2012.

In 2013, Mendes appeared in the HBO comedy film Clear History. as a formerly heavy-set woman. In 2014, she starred as a cabaret show performer in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River, which competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. This would be her last acting role until 2021 when she voiced a character in the animated series Bluey in the episode “Born Yesterday.

Mendes appeared in the Pet Shop Boys’ music video for “Se a vida é (That’s the Way Life Is)” in 1996, Aerosmith’s music video for “Hole in My Soul” in 1997, and Will Smith’s music video for “Miami” in 1998. She also appeared in the music video for The Strokes’ “The End Has No End” in 2004.

In 2005, Revlon employed Mendes as an international spokesperson and participated in their campaign to raise funds for breast cancer research. In December 2007, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) used a nude photo of Mendes for their anti-fur campaign.

 Mendes was a spokesmodel for the 2008 Campari calendar. She also appeared nude in a 2008 print advertisement for Calvin Klein’s Secret Obsession perfume, an ad that United States network executives found too risqué for broadcasting.

Mendes has been a spokesperson for Calvin Klein, Magnum, and the chocolate milk brand Cocio. She also promoted Thierry Mugler’s Angel fragrance, Reebok shoes, and Pantene shampoo. In 2011, Mendes appeared in a Peek & Cloppenburg clothing catalog. In addition, Mendes has a line of bed linens and dinnerware sold at Macy’s. In February 2013, she partnered with New York & Co. to launch her fashion line, Eva by Eva Mendes. She is also the creative director of the makeup brand CIRCA Beauty, which launched exclusively at Walgreens in 2015.

Eva Mendes Gives A Startling Update On Her Mother MAY 9, 2022 

Former actor turned Skura Style “smart” sponge entrepreneur Eva Mendes has always enjoyed a close and loving relationship with her mother, Eva Perez Suarez. 

My Mami. A survivor. Tough. Loving. Creative. Fiercely protective. Always supportive. And funny AF! Like really. Really funny. This woman is everything. If I can be half the Mami she is, I’ll be ok,” Mendes once famously gushed in a loving tribute to her mother on Instagram (via Hola!) along with a throwback photo of the matriarch. “My only issue is why didn’t you keep more of your clothes for me, Mami?!?” she lamented. “I’m living for this top and jeans and that belt! Where is this stuff?!?? Te Quiero Mami!!!”

Anne Heche Suffers Severe Injuries In Fiery Car Crash

Recently, however, things have worsened for the doting mother and grandmother to Mendes’ two daughters, Esmeralda Amada and Amada Lee, whom she shares with actor Ryan Gosling. Eva Mendes says her other is ‘not doing too well right now.’

Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock While making the rounds and doing press for her new line of “smart” sponges on May 6, Eva Mendes was moved to tears on the “Today” show when asked about her mother. The story goes that “Today” anchor Hoda Kotb wished Mendes’ mother, Eva Perez Suarez, a happy Mother’s Day.

 “Thank you so much. She’s not doing too well right now, so it means a lot to me,” Mendes stammered out while trying to choke back tears. “She’s a survivor in every way. Thank you,” she added. While Mendes offered no further details, many were perhaps reminded of Mendes’ brother, who tragically died of cancer in 2016, per Daily Mail.

 Following his death, celeb dad Ryan Gosling famously praised Mendes during his 2017 Golden Globes acceptance speech. “I would just like to try and thank one person properly and say that while I was singing and dancing and playing piano and having one of the best experiences. I’ve ever had on a film, my lady was raising our daughter, pregnant with our second, and trying to help her brother fight his battle with cancer,” he revealed. If she hadn’t taken all that on so I could have this experience, there would surely be someone other than me today. So sweetheart, thank you. Just another example that proves you never really know what someone is going through.

In 2020, she first shared how meeting Gosling changed her desire to have children. During an interview with Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa, she didn’t plan on being a mom until she “fell in love” with the actor.

When asked if she was ready to return to acting following a six-year hiatus at the time, Mendes told the Australian radio show. “I am now that my kids are getting a bit older, but I never want to send the wrong message to young women out there. So it’s not an either/or situation.

“I was lucky enough to work my bum off for 20 years,” she continued.

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Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes are one of the most private couples in Hollywood. Though the pair aren’t technically married, they have been partners since 2011 and have two daughters, making them one of the business’s most consistent, stable couples. In 2017, Gosling broke their usual protocol when he gushed over Mendes in his acceptance speech after winning a Golden Globe for his performance in La La Land. I just would like to try and thank one person properly and say that, while I was singing and dancing and playing the piano.

Having one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a film, my lady was raising our daughter, pregnant with our second, and trying to help her brother fight his battle with cancer,” he said. “If she hadn’t taken all that on so I could have this experience, it would surely be someone other than me. So sweetheart, thank you.”

The pair hit it off while filming The Place Beyond the Pines, which came out in 2013. Gosling and Mendes were spotted on a date at Disneyland just after brief dalliances with Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis, respectively. Remarkably, those two would end up entering their long-term relationship that same year. Wilde and Sudeikis, who split in November 2020, also share two children.

“I never wanted babies before until I fell in love with Ryan, and it kind of worked out to where I was 40 and having my first baby. I think I was 42 for the second one, so it worked out so that I had a career, and then I changed my focus to my family.”

Ms. Butterfly Genesis