Eva Mendes
Biography
Eva Mendes
was born in Houston, Texas but raised in Miami and Los Angeles.
Before Eva hit the big screen, she was studying marketing in the
late '90s when she was discovered because her neighbor, a photographer,
had her photo in his portfolio and it caught the eye of an agent.
Soon appearing in an Aerosmith video and making her film debut in
Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, Mendes worked her way
through the gamut of aspiring actors to appear in such high-profile
films as Urban Legends: Final Cut and Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
Dropping
out of school soon after being randomly discovered, Mendes appeared
in a few made-for-television productions and hammed it up with Will
Ferrell and Chris Kattan in A Night at the Roxbury before being
cast in a prominent role in Urban Legends: Final Cut. Working against
typecasting despite her teen horror resumé, Mendes next took
roles in Exit Wounds, Training Day, and All About the Benjamins.
Mendes next began work on a children's book titled Crazy Leggs Beshee
in which she wanted to introduce art, history, vocabulary, and values
to children in a fun and easily comprehendable medium.
In 2003,
Mendes' career took off, with the actress taking on large roles
in an ecclectic quartet of high-profile films. In 2 Fast 2 Furious
she played a customs agent working with Paul Walker to bring down
a Miami drug cartel. Out of Time found her reteaming with Training
Day costar Denzel Washington. Flexing her comedic chops, Mendes
was the love interest of half a pair of conjoined twins in the Farrelly
brothers' Stuck on You. And in Once Upon a Time in Mexico she played
another government agent, this time opposite Johnny Depp.
2004
saw no signs of Mendes slowing down, with the Cuban-American beauty
starring as the ex-girlfriend of Luke Wilson in The Wendell Baker
Story, a film Wilson cowrote with brother Owen Wilson and codirected
with sibling Andrew Wilson.
Eva Mendes Filmography
Hitch (2005)--Sara
The Wendell Baker Story (2004)
Stuck On You (2003)--April
Out of Time (2003)--Alex Diaz Whitlock
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)--Ajedrez
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)--Monica Fuentes
All About the Benjamins (2002)--Gina
Training Day (2001)--Sara Harris
Exit Wounds (2001)--Trish
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)--Vanessa
The Disciples (2000) (TV)--Maria Serranco
My Brother the Pig (1999)--Matilda
A Night at the Roxbury (1998)--Bridesmaid
Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) (V)--Kir |
