Eva Mendes Biography:

Born in Houston, Texas but raised in Miami and Los Angeles. A fiercely independent actress who refuses to be pressed into a conventional mode or typecast, Eva Mendez was studying marketing in the late '90s when an agent stumbled across her photo while perusing Mendez's neighbor's portfolio. Eva Mendes kicked off her acting career in an Aerosmith video. The 25-year-old resident of Los Angeles hadn't considered acting as a career until two and a half years ago, and has never taken an acting class. As the classic Hollywood story goes, she was discovered because her neighbour, a photographer, had her photo in his portfolio and it caught the eye of an agent.

Dropping out of school soon after being randomly discovered by an agent, Mendez appeared in a few made-for-television productions and hammed it up with Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan in A Night at the Roxbury before being cast in a prominent role in Urban Legends: Final Cut. She was thrilled about the opportunity to play a lesbian Latina, but she is still seeking the role that will challenge her as well as her viewers. She believes that modern audiences are, "more sophisticated than we give them credit." In the meantime, she is challenging and educating a different audience.

Working against typecasting despite her teen horror resumé, Mendez next took roles in Exit Wounds, Training Day, and All About the Benjamins (all 2001). In 2003 Eva was cast in 2 Fast 2 Furious, the follow-up to 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, opposite Paul Walker.

She is writing a children's book, "Crazy Leggs Beshee." Inspired by her nieces and nephews, she wants to introduce vocabulary, art, history and values through a medium kids understand.

Coming up, Eva will play an FBI agent in Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003).