Eva Mendes would only play alongside husband Ryan Gosling again

It would take time the power of Ken to bring Eva Mendes back to the big screen. The actress hasn't appeared in anything in nearly a decade, most recently playing a small role in her husband Ryan Gosling's directorial debut. Lost River.

“I was never in love with acting,” Mendes explained of her career choice in a new interview with the magazine Sunday Times. “I don't mean this in a self-deprecating way, but I wasn't a great actress. “I've had my moments where I've worked with really great people.” However, she admitted that there have been “some pretty shitty roles” throughout her career.

She added that she was cast solely because of her looks or was rejected because of her Cuban heritage. “That's all they would say at the beginning – 'She's too ethnic for this, too ethnic for that,'” Mendes said. “It was so crazy. That was the constant note. Then, at some point, the whole thing changed to “Oh, ethnicity is cool now” or “Being Latina is cool.” It gave me energy because it made me so angry, and then I got the fuel I needed.”

She explained that, in her opinion, her best work was alongside Gosling Lost River and 2012 The place Beyond the Pineswhere the couple first met. “He brings something out of me that has never been accessible before,” she said, adding that she only wants to return to acting if she is with Gosling. “That’s the only thing I would like to do,” confirmed Mendes.

Although she no longer acts, Mendes told the Just that she occasionally offers Gosling acting notes. In particular, she was responsible for some of his best decisions in the Greta Gerwig blockbuster Barbie.

“I would just simplify everything,” Mendes said. “I'm like, 'Just get Barbie noticed, that's what Ken is all about.' Then there was this desperation. He really liked that,” Mendes said. “As he's literally walking out the door, I want to remind him, 'Let Barbie notice you, let Barbie fall in love with you.'”

Gosling last appeared in The Guy case opposite Emily Blunt. He is currently filming a science fiction film Ave Maria Project with directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.