1995
Eva Mendes was born in Houston, Texas on March 5, 1978. Her parents are both Cuban and contributed to an interesting childhood that saw eva mendes move to Miami and then to Los Angeles when she was still a young girl. Despite the glitz and glamour of the West Coast, eva mendes gravitated toward interior design and marketing, not drama. In fact, she was majoring in marketing at CS Northridge and was comfortable with the direction she was heading before opportunity struck when an agent noticed a picture of hers at the house of her photographer neighbor.
Obviously, she had a certain je ne sais quoi because the agent convinced eva mendes to abandon her marketing degree and become an actress full time. Her very first experience came in music videos such as “Hole In My Soul” by Aerosmith and “Miami” by Will Smith. She followed these up with a few TV appearances, highlighted by roles in Mortal Kombat: Conquest and ER. She also hit the big screen with a role in 1998’s Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror.
eva mendes next appeared in the comedy A Night at the Roxbury, and then after smaller projects, such as My Brother The Pig and The Disciples, resurfaced with a role in Urban Legends: Final Cut in 2000. It was the first of many tough, feisty and sexy vixen roles. In fact, this persona was maintained in the action hit Exit Wounds (with Steven Seagal and DMX) and especially in her most admired performance to date: Denzel Washington’s mistress in 2001’s Training Day.
eva mendes took on more responsibility as Mike Epps’ girlfriend in 2002’s All About the Benjamins and revealed herself to be a beautiful and talented Latina actress. By this time, she had cultivated a strong following of fans who hoped to one day see her name in lights.
This opportunity arrived in 2003. First, she signed on to appear in one of the most anticipated releases of the summer: 2 Fast 2 Furious. This film offers her the most exposure of her short career and is sure to make her a household name. If this wasn’t enough, she has three potentially huge hits set for release in 2003. She will be bombarding audiences with appearances in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the follow-up to 1995’s Desperado; Out of Time, as Denzel Washington’s partner; and Stuck on You with Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon. All three have the required stars and plots to assure box-office success, which can only be good news for eva mendes and her career.
Born in Houston but raised in Los Angeles and Miami.
eva mendes was a marketing major at California State Northridge where she dropped out to pursue acting.
eva mendes is Cuban-American.
eva mendes appeared in an American Express credit card commercial which featured the Sheryl Crow song “Soak Up The Sun". [April 2002]
eva mendes is writing a book titled “Crazy Leggs Beshee", inspired by her nieces and nephews, that introduces vocabulary, art, history and values through a medium kids understand.
eva mendes loves interior designing and would undertake this profession if not acting.
eva mendes’ hobbies are music, sports (hiking, biking, skiing, and mountain climbing) and interior design.
eva mendes graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, California
The youngest of four children, Eva Mendes was born in Houston, Texas on March 5, 1978. Her parents are both Cuban and contributed to an interesting childhood that saw Eva move to Miami and then Los Angeles, when she was still a young girl. Despite the glitz and glamour of the Californian coast, eva mendes (or Mendez, as she is sometimes credited) gravitated toward interior design and marketing, not Hollywood.
In fact, eva mendes was majoring in marketing at California State Northridge and was comfortable with the direction her life was taking before fame struck. Her first taste of acting came when she appeared in a feature film to earn some money between university semesters, but opportunity struck when an agent noticed a picture of hers at the house of her photographer neighbor. Obviously, she had a certain je ne sais quoi because the agent convinced eva mendes to stop studying and pursue acting full time.
from music videos to “b” pictures
Her very first experience came in music videos; you can see her in the videos for “Hole In My Soul” by Aerosmith and “Miami” by Will Smith . She followed these up with a few TV appearances, highlighted by roles in Mortal Kombat : Conquest and ER , both in 1998. She also hit the big screen (albeit, not for too long) with a role in 1998’s Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror.
eva’s training day
eva mendes kept at it in the comedy A Night at the Roxbury , and then, after smaller projects, resurfaced in 2000 with a role in Urban Legends: Final Cut . It was there that she began to get labeled as a tough, feisty and sexy vixen; this persona was maintained in the action hit Exit Wounds and especially in her most admired performance, as Denzel Washington ’s wife in 2001’s Training Day .
Meeting rising expectations head-on, eva mendes took on more responsibility as Mike Epps’ girlfriend in 2002’s All About the Benjamins and was officially recognized as a beautiful (and talented) Latina actress. By this point, she had cultivated a strong following of (mostly male) fans, who waited with bated breath for her to truly make a name for herself.
the latest blockbuster queen
This opportunity arrived in 2003. First, she signed on to appear in one of the most anticipated releases of summer 2003: 2 Fast 2 Furious . In the sequel to the supercharged, souped-up car flick of 2001, she has received the most exposure of her short career. eva mendes’ star power is bound to increase exponentially thanks to the film’s impressive box-office success.
If this wasn’t enough, eva mendes had three huge hits in 2003. She bombarded audiences with appearances in Desperado II: Once Upon a Time in Mexico (starring Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek ), Out of Time (again with Denzel Washington) and the Farrelly brothers ‘ Stuck On You (starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear). She is surely movin’ on up, and frankly, we couldn’t be happier.
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