Eva Mendes has dismissed claims that she ended her acting career with a recent post to social media.
The actor had several high-profile film roles in the 2000s and early 2010s, including parts in Hitch, Ghost Rider and The Place Beyond the Pines, in which she starred with her long-term partner, Ryan Gosling.
However, Mendes only appeared in three screen projects between 2013 and 2021, leading some to assume that she’d walked away from the entertainment industry.
In a post to Instagram, Mendes addressed the assumptions that she’d left her film and TV career behind, and explained that she made an active decision to spend more time with her family.
“I never quit acting,” she began her caption.
“I wanted to be home with my babies and fortunately my other business ventures allowed me to do that more than acting would.”
She continued by noting that the particular roles that had been offered to her during her supposed “hiatus” did not entice her, and that starring in Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River in 2014 was a high point in her career.
“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.”
Concluding her message, Mendes clarified: “What’s the point of this post? To shift that narrative. I never quit.”
Earlier this year, Mendes clarified the kinds of roles she is now interested in after having children – daughters Esmeralda Amada, eight, and Amada Lee, six.
“I have such a shortlist of what I will do,” she told panellists on The View in May. “Like, before kids, I was kinda up for anything, you know, if it was a fun project.
“But now I won’t do violence. I don’t want to do sexuality. The list is short.”
