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Eva Mendes (born March 5, 1974) is an American actress.

Mendes was born in Miami, Florida (although many sources incorrectly state her birthplace is Houston, Texas) to Cuban parents and was raised in Los Angeles. She went to Hoover High School in Glendale, California. She later attended California State University, Northridge but dropped out to seek an acting career. She studied with Ivana Chubbuck.

Mendes worked her way up through commercials to music videos (including an appearance in Will Smith’s video “Miami“) to guest roles in television soap operas and supporting film roles. She received her first big-screen break when she appeared in the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Training Day, where Mendes appeared completely nude. That performance led to roles in Stuck on You, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and as the female lead in the comedy Hitch opposite Will Smith. Her role in Once Upon a Time in Mexico also gave her a nomination at the Teen Choice Awards. She has two major movie projects pending, including Ghost Rider, in which she costars along with Nicolas Cage.

Mendes is a spokesmodel for Revlon. She has also worked in interior design and has written children’s books. Maxim ranked her #27 in their 2006 Hot 100 issue.

Young, talented and beautiful, Latino actress Eva Mendes rose to stardom on sheer luck and timing. Just five years prior to her starring role in “2 Fast 2 Furious” (2003), the sequel to the unexpected hit, “The Fast and the Furious” (2001), Mendes wasn’t even thinking about an acting career, much less actively pursuing one. But fortune shined it’s light on the energetic actress, and with her passion and zest for life, seized the moment and never looked back.

Born on March 5, 1978 in Miami, Mendes moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was two years old. Of Cuban descent, her parents fled the island in 1959 before the revolution, but ultimately split when Mendes was ten. Her mother worked as an accountant to support the family, and was very strict on Mendes and her three elder siblings. Mendes later attended Cal State Northridge where she majored in marketing, though she wasn’t terribly interested in the subject.

Then a stroke of dumb luck changed her life forever: her neighbor—a photographer—took a photographs of her at a garage sale. When the photographer was applying for a job, a casting agent noticed the pictures of Mendes and asked to meet her. Mendes was called into their office and was soon cast in her first movie, the straight-to-video release “Children of the Corn V: Field of Terror” (1998). The experience wasn’t a good one for Mendes: her performance was, according to her, “horrific.”

Determined not to let her career be defined by a cheesy horror flick, Mendes joined a few acting classes and spent the next few years in serious study of her craft. Along the way, she landed a few roles in commercials and music videos, including Will Smith’s “Miami” and Aerosmith’s “Hole in My Soul.” Mendes also continued to appear in less awful movies, including “Night at the Roxbury” (1998), starring SNL regulars Will Farrell and Chris Kattan, and “Urban Legends: Final Cut” (2000), with Jennifer Morrison and Matthew Davis.

Her break-out role, however, was in the critically acclaimed “Training Day” (2001), starring Oscar winner Denzel Washington. Though her role as Washington’s girlfriend was small, it was memorable; in a film revealing the acting chops of its lead actors, Mendes revealed something a bit different: her entire body. Mendes went on to appear in Steven Seagal’s comeback actioner, “Exit Wounds” (2001), co-staring rap star DMX. She also had a supporting role in “All About the Benjamins” (2002), a diamond heist comedy starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps. Then came her star turn in “2 Fast 2 Furious”, co-starring Paul Walker and Tyrese.

Mendes played a U.S. Customs agent who recruits Walker and Tyrese to ensnare a drug kingpin. Her flare for action led Paul Rodriguez to cast her in the third installment of his Mariachi trilogy, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” (2003), in which she played a duplicitous Mexican Federale to Johnny Depp’s rogue CIA agent. Then the actress reunited with Washington for director carl Franklin’s thriller “Out of Time” (2003), playing the estranged wife of Washington’s Florida chief of police whose life falls apart when he becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. To top off her career, Mendes became a spokesmodel for Revlon. As she became more a presence in the pop culture, her on-screen profile rose as well with her winning starring role as Will Smith’s love interest, a gossip reporter unknowingly falling for a relationship consultant she’s also pursuing a story about, in the romantic comedy “Hitch” (2005).

• Born: on 03/05/1978 in Houston, Texas
• Job Titles:Actress

Family

• Mother: Eva.

Significant Others

• Companion: George Gargurevich.

Education

• California State Northridge, Northridge, California, marketing

Milestones

• 1998 Had a small part in the comedy “A Night at the Roxbury”
• 2000 Was cast as Vanessa in the sequel “Urban Legends: Final Cut”
• 2001 Along side Steven Seagal and DMX, appeared in the action feature “Exit Wounds”
• 2001 Breakout role as Denzel Washington’s girl on the side in “Training Day”
• 2003 Co-Starred with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear in the comedy “Stuck on You”
• 2003 Co-starred in the western feature “Once Upon a Time in Mexico”
• 2003 Reunited with Denzel Washington for the feature “Out of Time”
• 2003 Was the female lead in “2 Fast 2 Furious,” which was directed by John Singleton
• 2005 Cast as the object of Will Smith’s affection in the comedy “Hitch”
• 2006 Appeared in Lee Daniels’ indie film “Shadowboxer”
• 2006 Cast opposite Billy Crudup in Bart Freundlich’s “Trust the Man”
• c. 1980 Relocated from Houston to Miami and later to Los Angeles (Echo Park)
• Signed on to play the lady love for Nicholas Cage in the Marvel Comics-inspired “Ghost Rider” (lensed 2005)
• Will co-star with Joaquin Phoenix on the upcoming crime drama “We Own the Night”