Despite her gorgeous looks and critical acclaim, it's been quite a while since Eva Mendes appeared
in a Hollywood movie.
How could someone as beautiful and talented have fallen so far off the Tinseltown radar?
As it turns out, it's mostly been her own decision.
Mom-first mentality
One of the primary reasons we don't see much of Eva Mendes anymore is that she's been busy
raising the two daughters she has with partner Ryan Gosling: Esmeralda Amada and Amada Lee,
born in 2014 and 2016, respectively.
She told InStyle Magazine, "I'm a very hands-on mom; I don't have a nanny.
No matter how tired I am, I just do it."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, becoming a mother has made Mendes worry less about glamorous
dresses and focus more on, you know, the important stuff.
"If I'm even like, 'Oh, what should I wear?
Or, should I do this project?
All I have to think about is my daughter and her face, and then I know the answer immediately.
I guess she's like my moral compass."
Mendes' maternal sacrifice was highlighted in January 2017 when Gosling accepted the
Golden Globe for his performance in La La Land.
"If she hadn't have taken all that on so that I could have this experience, there would
surely be someone else up here other than me today."
Box office drop
Hollywood is a fickle place, and at the end of the day, it's success at the ticket booth
that really does the talking.
Mendes hasn't had the best track record with her films of late, and that can put a damper
on anyone's career.
The Place Beyond the Pines might have changed Mendes's personal life forevermore when she
met Gosling, her partner and the father of her children.
But despite the real-world romance it created and its positive reviews, the movie's limited
theatrical run just didn't make a big dent with a lot of audiences.
And her appearance in the Nicolas Cage-starring Bad Lieutenant was a bomb.
With a budget of $25 million, its domestic gross of just over $1.7 million was nothing
short of terrible.
Girl in Progress was Mendes's 2012 attempt at taking on some serious family matters.
It explored the damage that can be done by a parent who's too wrapped up in their own
crisis-filled life to pay attention to their child's struggles.
She told Collider, "I was attracted to the fact that the character was such a mess of
a woman and such a disaster of a mother, but really, truly trying her best."
Audiences weren't as interested, however, and the movie finished with a $2.6 million
domestic gross after just 6 weeks in theaters.
Her 2015 collaboration with Gosling, Lost River, was even more dismal, grossing only
$45,000 after being released in only three theaters for a 21-day run.
Money talks in Hollywood, and that might also have something to do with why Mendes's preferred
roles are fewer and fewer.
Glamour gone
In recent years, Eva Mendes has also been trying to shed the glamour girl image that
made her famous.
Instead, she's been focused on finding deeper, different roles that were going to be more
challenging — and more meaningful — going forward.
She told The Guardian, "I just made a decision.
When it comes to being an actress I actually really love coming from a very raw place.
Any opportunity I get not to wear makeup on set, I take.
I really don't care about looking beautiful in a film unless I have to for the character.
I don't check the playback, I don't even know anything about lighting.
I love anything that gets me closer to the role.
So I needed to turn down those things that could possibly pigeonhole me."
She was vague on whether or not that meant she had actively been turning down roles that
just didn't suit her new determination, but she did mention that there were several directors
she was trying to pursue a working relationship with.
Unfortunately, breaking free of typecasting can be incredibly difficult, and turning down
roles means that you're bound to fall off Hollywood's radar a bit.
Privacy please
It goes without saying that Eva Mendes fights for as much privacy as she can get.
Consider her 2008 trip to rehab, which was rumored to be for cocaine abuse — but which
her rep claimed was actually for "personal issues."
Whereas other celebrities might feel forced to go on some kind of apology tour afterward,
Mendes never spoke about what happened on the record, despite some serious interest
from the gossip circuit.
She and Gosling also largely avoid the red carpet together, and Mendes told Shape Magazine,
"What people don't know about me is that I love being home."
And even though she's on social media, Eva Mendes' accounts are very business-oriented,
with little to no sign of Gosling or her daughters.
Branching out
Mendes might be most famous for her acting roles, but there's another side of her that's
almost the complete opposite.
While she's spent countless hours portraying someone else, she's also been busy embracing
being none other than Eva Mendes in her roles as a celebrity spokesperson for an impressive
list of international companies.
Not only has she represented brands like Estee Lauder and Vogue Eyewear, but she also launched
her own clothing line at New York and Company and directs a beauty brand called CIRCA.
Mendes said of the cosmetics line, "Growing up, I was from a very lower-middle class family,
and I really got all my makeup and products from drugstores, but the quality of the products
just wasn't there."
Like Jessica Simpson and Jessica Alba before her, these days, Mendes appears to be repositioning
herself as a legitimate business mogul in Hollywood.
But show business and the fashion business aren't the only things on her mind.
Giving back
Mendes has also done her fair share of charity work over the years.
In 2012, she visited Sierra Leone to help raise awareness about women's issues across
the globe and told People, "This experience has profoundly affected me.
I was so shocked and saddened to learn the extent of gender-based violence taking place
in Sierra Leone every day and that trip has made me want to be a part of the solution."
She also volunteers for the organization The Art of Elysium, which allows musicians, artists
and actors to share their talents with very sick children.
Mendes told CNN, "These children, they're just these beautiful little souls.
Some of these kids can't speak, so they really just have their eyes and their souls to communicate.
And when you finger-paint with a kid or you dance and you see their little eyes light
up, it's pretty incredible.
And when you start visiting them on a regular basis, you see their growth.
It's really quite special."
It sounds like Mendes really enjoys the charity work she does — might she be realizing a
true passion as a humanitarian?
And could acting simply be taking a backseat to more fulfilling work giving back to others?
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