Eva Mendes is getting real about her acting career.
In a new interview with Variety, Mendes, 48, explained why she quit acting, telling the publication, “I don’t really miss it.”
“I got tired of fighting for the good roles,” Mendes said. “There just was a point where I thought, ‘I’m going to create my own opportunities and become a producer on things and create my own material,’ but it just didn’t feel worth it to me.”
Mendes, who is known for playing Sara in 2005’s “Hitch” and Dr. Sheila Gamble in 2010’s “The Other Guys,” noted that the entertainment industry had changed a lot from the time when she used to audition for roles.
“There are more opportunities for Latina actresses now, but when I bowed out 10 years ago I wasn’t being offered things that weren’t specifically Latina,” she said.
“It is exciting that things are different now, so who knows what I will do in the future,” Mendes continued. “But right now, I’m keeping it in the home with my kids.”
Mendes is a proud mom of two kids, Esmeralda, 7, and Amada, 6, whom she shares with her husband, Ryan Gosling.
While thinking about her life at home, she said that she puts her family before anything else and she’s glad that she does.
“I thought, ‘Oh, this is what I’m supposed to do right now,’” Mendes said.
Although she’s mostly quit the business, Mendes has occasionally returned to acting. In 2021 she voiced the yoga instructor in the children’s TV show, “Bluey,” and before that, she played Cat in 2014’s “Lost River.”
In May, she told Hoda Kotb about her life at home and said she’s happy that she gets to spend time with her kids because parenting is the “most creative thing” she’s ever done.
“I really took it back to when I was little,” Mendes said on TODAY. “My mom was able to be there for me at home until I was about 8 or 9 and those memories for me, that just formed who I was, those years with her.”
“And so I just felt lucky enough — I’m like, ‘Damn, I really want this time with them.’ And then now, you know, I’m obsessed,” she said.
Although fans won’t be seeing Mendes on the big screen as much as they hoped, Mendes said that she doesn’t plan on quitting acting forever. She could possibly return.
“I think that’d be fun at some point,” Mendes said. “But I think my list has gotten so short. I don’t want to do anything violent, I don’t want to do anything sexual. I’m like, ‘What’s left?’”
An earlier version of this story was first published on Today.com
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