Eva Mendes Didn't Like Acting and Says 'I Wasn't a Great Actress'

Eva Mendes admitted in an interview with the Sunday Times that she was “never in love with acting”, so there is no real urgency to end her ten-year career and take a break from it. The actress hasn't appeared in a feature film since a small supporting role in partner Ryan Gosling's 2014 directorial “Lost River,” although she did lend her voice in a 2021 episode of “Bluey” on ABC Kids.

“I was never in love with acting. I don't mean this in a self-deprecating way, but I wasn't a great actress,” Mendes said. “I’ve had my moments where I’ve worked with really great people.”

As far as Mendez sees it, her best acting work came in 2012, when she appeared alongside Gosling in the crime drama “The Place Beyond on the Pines,” or when he directed her in “Lost River.” She said, “He brings something out of me that has never been accessible before.”

Mendes told “The View” in 2022 that she hopes to one day act again, although the project would have to be “special” and not contain violence or sexuality. In her new interview with The Sunday Times, Mendes said that working with Gosling would be an easy way to get her back on screen (“That's the only thing I'd like to do”).

That Mendes has no interest in sexualized roles is no surprise, as her 16-year acting career often featured characters that were one-dimensional beauties and eye candy. She admitted to the Sunday Times: “There were some pretty shitty roles.” There was a time in her career when she was either cast because of her looks or 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.”

Mendes' last leading role in a film was the 2012 drama Girl in Progress, directed by Patricia Riggen. The Lionsgate release only grossed $3 million at the box office. That same year, Mendes played supporting roles in the critical favorite Place Beyond the Pines and Leos Carax's Cannes hit Holy Motors. Mendes' last live-action television role was a supporting role in Larry David's 2013 HBO original film “Clear History.”