It’s been nearly a decade since Eva Mendes starred in a feature film. That film, “Lost River,” debuted in 2014 and suffered a bit from mixed reviews. But since then, Eva Mendes has been non-existent on screen in films or TV shows (outside of one small role in the TV show “Bluey,” which is a fucking great children’s show, btw). This has led many to assume that Mendes has “retired” from acting to focus on her family with her spouse Ryan Gosling. Well, Mendes is here to remind us all again what happens when you assume.
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In a post on Instagram, Eva Mendes denied reports that she has retired and “quit acting.” Though she has taken some time to be with her family and work on other business ventures, the actress points to a lack of quality roles as to why she hasn’t been onscreen in eight years.
“I never quit acting,” wrote Mendes. “I wanted to be home with my babies and fortunately my other business ventures allowed me to do that more than acting would. Also, I was not excited about the stereotypical roles being offered to me at the time. Especially after working on the film ‘Lost River’—that was a dream project. That’s a tough act to follow. What’s the point of this post? To shift that narrative. I never quit.”
The interest in what happened to the career of Mendes has only grown over the years because you don’t see too many actors step away from Hollywood at what is presumed to be the height of their careers. Sure, in the early-2000s, Mendes was in a bunch of high-profile franchise films such as “Ghost Rider” and “2 Fast 2 Furious,” but she really started to choose interesting projects at the beginning of the 2010s with films such as “Holy Motors,” “The Place Beyond the Pines,” and the aforementioned “Lost River.”
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So, it’s a shame we haven’t seen what she would have done next. Though, if she was actually only being offered stereotypical roles, you have to commend her for not wanting to accept any of those jobs, while also being upset at the industry for giving talented actresses such little choice.
We’ll just have to see what the future holds and if/when Eva Mendes will decide to appear on the big screen again.