But Eva Mendes is more than just "a face." There’s more to her than her exotic face highlighted by big brown eyes and a sexy butt that could rival that of Jennifer Lopez. "I love the fact that I’m Cuban," Eva was quoted by Premiere magazine as saying. "I wouldn’t be who I am if I wasn’t. I wouldn’t have those hips!"
During the press junket last month in Honolulu for Columbia Pictures’ Hitch, described as "a sophisticated romantic comedy," Eva easily impressed entertainment journalists from the US and other countries with her wit and intelligence, combined with a sense of humor, as she breezily fielded questions mostly about love in keeping with the theme of the movie with Will Smith playing the title role as a date doctor, directed by Andy Tenant (Anna and The King, Ever After, Sweet Home Alabama, etc.). Eva plays a gossip columnist.
Here’s the synopsis:
Alex "Hitch" Hitchens is a legendary – and deliberately anonymous – New York City "date doctor" who, for a fee, has helped countless men woo the women of their dreams. While coaching a meek accountant (Kevin James) who is smitten with a glamorous celebrity (one-time supermodel Amber Valletta), Hitch finally meets his match in the person of the gorgeous, whip-smart Sara Melas, a gossip columnist who follows the glamorous celebrity’s every move. (Filipino Broadway actor Jose Llana is cast in a supporting role as the photographer who works side by side with the gossip columnist.) The ultimate professional bachelor, Hitch suddenly finds himself falling deliriously in love with Sara, a reporter whose biggest scoop could very well be the unmasking of Manhattan’s most famous date doctor.
"There’s not much similarity between Sara Melas and me," said Eva who first worked with Smith in his l997 music video for Miami. "Our interests are very different."
Born on March 5, l976 in Miami, Florida, the 5’7" stunner (youngest of four children) was raised in Los Angeles (Silver Lake-Echo Park area) where she attended the Glendale (Hoover) High School. She was taking up a course in Marketing at the California States Northridge when an agent saw her photo while scanning a neighbor’s portfolio. Eva quit school and decided to pursue an acting career.
Her first major role was as the girlfriend of Denzel Washington in Training Day (for which he won a Best Actor Oscar), followed by the suspense-thriller Out of Time (also with Washington). She then co-starred with Johnny Depp in Once Upon a Time in Mexico (also starring Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek) and in 2 Fast 2 Furious, with Ice Cube in All About Benjamin and the Farrelly Brothers’ comedy Stuck on You.
"The movies have always been a part of my life," said Eva who reminds some people of Raquel Welch. "I used to spend weekends at the Mann Chinese Theater (in Hollywood) where my mother worked as a cashier."
Besides doing movies, Eva is busy writing a children’s book called Crazy Leggs Beshee, which is about a character named Crazy Leggs who, when she gets nervous, literally gets her legs all tangled up.
Join Conversations in picking Eva Mendes’ brains...
Hitch is a fun movie, definitely! Which part did you find most fun?
"The Will Smith part. I just had so much fun with him – so, so much fun that I really forgot that it was work. It seemed that we were just having fun. You do all your homework, you rehearse and you go to the set and, yes, you just have fun!"
Oh, like you were just playing.
"Exactly!"
Do you remember any memorable experience on the set?
"Okay, this was funny. Will and I were getting ready to do the kissing scene, our first kiss, and I was totally nervous. I couldn’t take a better person to have that kind of scene because Will is incredibly amazing and he puts everybody at ease and he smells good. But, I was nervous. I was in my trailer and I thought I’d have some comfort food – toasted tuna sandwich with Doritos smashed up in the middle and a Pepsi. As I was biting into it, the trailer door opened and Will popped his head. He said, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ I thought I should have just brushed my teeth. But after seeing the movie, I think that scene went really well. So, I said, ‘I’m happy, I’m happy!’ I should know better next time."
How are you similar to or different from your character, Sara Melas? Do you also play hard-to-get with suitors, just like you do in the movie?
"Hmmmm! Yeah, I do – sometimes! I plead guilty to putting up an armor, a tough exterior that keeps men away. That way I’m like her. But I’m not like her in the sense that she carries that ‘putting up’ a little too far. But like Hitch, I fell in love with Sara, a woman who thinks that she needs to keep her guard up so she can succeed as a career woman."
How did you internalize your role as a gossip columnist?
"I’m not gonna say her name but I read something about a gossip columnist, a female New Yorker, who said something like ‘I amuse but I don’t abuse.’ It kind of gave me an idea. But I continue to wonder what people get from gossip magazines."
Amusement, for one thing.
"Amusement, maybe. And also anything that can spark idle talk among people who are bored. It’s a cure for boredom."
You’ve worked with other big stars like Denzel Washington (as his girlfriend in Training Day and in the suspense-thriller Out of Time) and Johnny Depp (in Once Upon a Time in Mexico and 2 Fast 2 Furious).
"Working with Denzel and Johnny was the same thing; it was just as nerve-wracking."
Did your concern for your boyfriend’s feelings have anything to do with it?
"No, I don’t think so. It’s a profession and I don’t have a guilt thing at all. But I just get nervous doing it (kissing) in front of so many people and you are supposed to be intimate."
Are you basically nervous?
"Yes, I am! A lot!"
Why?
"Because you are doing it in front of so many people. But you know, after doing it a couple of times, you become so technical and you become so much more comfortable with each other, and I’m fine after that."
What about in real life?
"It’s just as nerve-wracking. You know, you want to kiss a guy and how do you go about it nicely?"
What about when a guy is persistent but you don’t want to kiss him?
"Oh, you just have to put your hands up and say, ‘Good night!’ Nicely, of course! The most that you can do is give him a hug and say, ‘Thank you!’ It’s very respectful, isn’t it?"
Have you ever been turned down by a guy who didn’t want to kiss you?
"Sure, I was! I’ve had my heart broken. The high school thing, you know, in Los Angeles."
Your boyfriend is not from showbiz. Don’t you like an actor for a boyfriend?
"I prefer a non-actor. One crazy actor in the family is enough. And I’ll be the crazy actor in the family."
Is your boyfriend American?
"Yes, he is."
Is there any difference between dating an American and dating a non-American?
"Oh, yes, there is. I think that European and Latin men are just a little bit more easy-going and more frank about what they want. American men are less frank or open about what they want. I like the more frank men."
Have you dated any Filipino?
"Yes, I have. I was in high school in L.A."
Did you go steady with him?
"No. We just dated for about three months and that was it."
What kind of guys do you find attractive?
"Those who have self-confidence, ambitious and lovable. If he reads Ayn Rand, so much the better."
And what kind turns you off?
"Those who don’t dress well and can’t handle themselves after a few drinks."
As a Face of Revlon, you do take good care not only of your face but your whole body. What kind of diet do you follow and what workout do you do?
"I do cardio exercises and a lot of running. As far as my diet is concerned, I try to eat most anything but I do it guilt-free, in moderation. Otherwise, if I eat more than I should, I do an extra 15 minutes on the treadmill."
Are you vain just like most good-looking women?
"Am I vain? Hmmmm. I am, probably!"
With such a body-to-die-for, you are perfect for sexy roles.
"Oh, am I?"
What would make you do a nude scene?
"If the nudity is relevant to the story, it’s fine. You’ve seen those actresses doing love scenes covered with sheets, haven’t you? Don’t they look so unnatural? But if the nudity is done for the sake of nudity, without any relevance to the plot at all, why do it?"
You are an active participant and an ardent supporter of Revlon’s commitment in the fight against breast cancer. Do you know anybody suffering from breast cancer?
"I have a friend, somebody very close to my family, who has been suffering from breast cancer for a few years now. She’s on remission right now."
If you were not an actress, what would you be?
"An interior designer. I love making things beautiful."
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph)