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Eva Mendes Profile |
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Birth Date: March 5, 1974
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Birth Place: Houston, Texas, USA
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Birth Name: Eva Mendes
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Height: 5'6"
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Biography |
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, Mendes (or Mendez, as she is sometimes credited)
gravitated toward interior design and marketing, not
Hollywood.
In fact, 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 Mendes to stop
studying and pursue acting full time.
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.
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, 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.
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. Mendes' star power is bound to
increase exponentially thanks to the film's impressive
box-office success.
If this wasn't enough, 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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Other
Information |
Born in Houston but raised in Los Angeles and Miami.
Was a marketing major at California State University
Northridge where she dropped out to pursue acting.
Is Cuban-American.
Appeared in an American Express credit card commercial which
featured the Sheryl Crow song "Soak Up The Sun". [April
2002]
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.
Loves interior designing and would undertake this profession
if not acting.
Her hobbies are music, sports (hiking, biking, skiing, and
mountain climbing) and interior design.
Graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale,
California. John Cho and Alex Kalognomos were also students
there.
Has a sister named Janet living in Los Angeles.
Has played Denzel Washington's wife/girlfriend twice, first
in Training Day (2001) and again in Out Of time (2003)
Favourite films are The Shining (1980) and Blow up (1966)
Named #12 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.
Was among the guests at Jessica Simpson's 25th birthday
party.
Ranked as #53 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005"
special supplement. (2005)
Was featured as #54 in Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100 of 2002"
supplement. (2002) |
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