Eva Mendes worked her way up through commercials to music videos (including an appearance in Will Smith's video "Miami" and a Pet Shop Boys music video in 1996) to guest roles in television soap operas and supporting film roles. She received her first big-screen break when she appeared in the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Training Day.

That performance led to roles in Stuck on You, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and as the female lead in the comedy Hitch opposite Will Smith. Her role in Once Upon a Time in Mexico also gave her a nomination at the Teen Choice Awards. She has been in multiple major movie projects, the more recent, Ghost Rider, in which she costars along with Nicolas Cage.