Eva Mendes might have made a rare appearance in London this week, but fans hoping for an acting comeback shouldn't hold their breath. The 51-year-old actress was seen looking effortlessly stylish in Notting Hill, stepping out in a khaki sweatshirt dress and knee-high leather boots.
Despite the buzz, those close to Mendes say she has no immediate plans to return to acting, as her priority continues to be her family with Ryan Gosling, 44, now filming 'Star Wars: Starfighter' in the UK. Mendes is focused on supporting her husband and being a present mom to their two daughters, Esmeralda, 10, and Amada, 8.
The conversation was sparked after a rumor suggesting that she would appear with Gosling on screen in the new project. “Eva is in no rush to go back to acting on any regular basis as she is very happy being a mom,” an insider told DailyMail. “Friends and Ryan bring it up to her from time to time, but she has been very content not being in Hollywood."
"Her focus is on seeing her daughters get through high school and go to college," the insider continued. However, there’s one thing that could draw her back to the screen. “She would consider a return if her children asked her to act in something,” the source added.
Mendes’ last on-screen appearance was over a decade ago, in Gosling’s 2014 directorial debut 'Lost River.' Although she hasn't formally retired, she's been transparent about her waning connection to the industry. “I was never in love with acting. I don’t mean this in a self-deprecating way, but I wasn’t a great actress,” Mendes told The Sunday Times. “I had my moments when I worked with really great people.”
She also singled out Gosling as the one who brought out her best performances. “He gets something out of me that’s never been accessible before.” Their love story began on the set of 2012's 'The Place Beyond the Pines,' where they played romantic partners.
The onscreen chemistry blossomed into a real-life relationship, and the couple has remained largely private since. While it is believed they got married in 2016, neither has confirmed it.
The two were recently spotted together at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and Mendes has spoken warmly about their creative synergy. She once told The View that she might act again, but only if the project were “special” and avoided violence or sexuality.
That boundary isn’t surprising, given the roles Mendes was often offered during her 16-year career, many of which she found limiting. “There were some pretty s--tty roles,” she recalled. “That’s all they would say at the beginning, ‘she’s too ethnic for this, too ethnic for that.’ It was so crazy. That was the constant note. Then, at some point, it switched to, ‘Oh, ethnic is cool now.’”
Outside of acting, Mendes has been busy. “I never quit acting,” she clarified on Instagram in 2022. “I wanted to be home with my babies, and fortunately my other business ventures allowed me to do that more than acting would.”
Those ventures include her skincare line with Skura Style, a clothing collaboration with New York & Company, CIRCA Beauty at Walgreens, and, most recently, her 2024 children's book Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries.