Now that Eva Mendes’ daughters are getting older, the former movie star is questioning her choice to step away from acting to focus on her family.
During an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Mendes shared that she never felt lost when she entered motherhood, but now she’s starting to question her identity. Mendes has been raising her two daughters, Esmerelda, 10, and Amada, 8, whom she shares with longtime love Ryan Gosling.
“I actually didn’t feel lost, I felt very clear,” she told Barrymore of becoming a mother. “But then, I felt lost. Then it was the cliché of like, ‘Who am I now, after the kids can survive on their own?'”
Eva Mendes questioned “who” she is now after stepping away from acting for over a decade to raise her two daughters. (Adam Christopher /NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Mendes noted that her daughters are only eight and ten, but they don’t need her “every second” anymore.
“It’s a little different, but I love talking to my girls about anything. So, I feel very fulfilled,” Mendes said.
Earlier this week, Mendes was a guest on “Good Morning America” to promote her children’s book, “Desi, Mami, and The Never-Ending Worries,” and opened up about whether she’ll ever return to the big screen.
“I don’t know. If there’s interesting roles . . . I kind of felt like I did it, you know? I was like, ‘I just worked with Ryan Gosling. He’s like, the best,'” she said, referencing her 2012 flick, “The Place Beyond the Pines.”
Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling pictured at the 2024 Olympics. (Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images)
“Then, I felt lost. Then it was the cliché of like, ‘Who am I now after the kids can survive on their own?'”
— Eva Mendes
“It was such a high [in] my career to work with him and what we created together, that I was like, ‘This is a good time to like ’Seinfeld’ it, and just walk out.’ So, who knows?”
In recent years, Mendes has shared that her mindset has changed since having children.
Eva Mendes created the children’s book, “Desi, Mami, And The Never-Ending Worries.” (Gotham/Getty Images for ABA)
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“Acting is something that I will always love. It’s just like now that I have children, I’m kind of extreme,” Mendes told Entertainment Tonight in 2020. “There’s just so many things I won’t do. Like, I won’t do most of the movies I’ve done in the past. A lot of things are off that list. I don’t want to do anything too violent. Of course, I don’t want to do anything too sexual or sexual at all.”
Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling share two daughters. (Sonia Recchia/Getty Images)
Mendes did make a small appearance in the children’s show “Bluey” in 2021, which she said “killed” in her household.
When talking about her book on “Good Morning America,” she noted that writing it was actually beneficial to her parenting.
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“Desi has these never-ending worries — I have them as well,” Mendes admitted of the book’s main character. “And she tries to work with her brain to…make sure it’s not being a bully to her, by sending all these negative thoughts her way, and that it’s being like a BFF to her.”
Eva Mendes previously said that having children made her “extreme.” (Tim Hunter / Newspix/Aliah Anderson/Getty Images)
Mendes revealed that her kids were fans of her latest venture. “They love it. I think they love it. They’re very harsh critics though,” she shared, before telling a story she insisted was real, and not only for television.
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“My little girl, who just turned 10, was having a hard time, and I swear to you, I walk into her room, she’s reading the book. . . . That really got to me,” she said.
Fox News Digital’s Caroline Thayer contributed to this report.
Janelle Ash is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to janelle.ash@fox.com.
