Eva Mendes on leaving Hollywood to become a mother

Eva Mendes is opening up about her decision to step back from the spotlight and focus her attention on motherhood. In a new interview, the actress explained that she didn’t feel any pressure to walk away from the entertainment industry and instead felt “clarity” after her decision. She has been with her partner, actor Ryan Gosling, for over a decade and they share two daughters, Esmeralda Amada, 9, and Amada Lee, 8.

“It was the easiest decision I’ve ever made,” she said. People for his Beau Number 2024. “I was older and I knew that my children would be little once, and that everything I do or don’t do right now will affect them for the rest of their lives. Your career will and comes, but kids, yeah, it was easy for me. It’s just formative years. I wanted to be there for all of that.”

Mendes’ last film was in 2014 Lost River. However, she has since lent her voice to the beloved animated program Blue and is about to release a children’s book, Desi, Mami and endless worriesin September.

“Everything matters when you have two little people watching over you all day,” she said of her relationship with her children and how it makes her more attentive to what she focuses on. “It’s scary but it’s good because it pushes me to try to be a better person every day.”

Mendes also spoke about becoming a mother in her 40s, saying many people seemed to view it as a big deal. She didn’t see it that way, nor did she agree with people who insisted that being a 20-year-old mom is the only way to keep up with kids.

“When I was 40, it was a big deal to people that I was pregnant, but it wasn’t the case for me,” she said. “And then I was 42 and pregnant with my second and people were like, ‘Oh my God, you’re going to be so tired. This is why people have kids in their 20s.’ I was like, ‘That’s the most sorry, stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.'”

Gosling recently expressed her gratitude for having Mendes in her life, saying he was not only there for her personally, but also professionally.

“I couldn’t be here without her,” Gosling said Additional at the premiere of The guy who falls just in time in Los Angeles. “She’s also like my acting coach. She’s truly become the best acting coach I’ve ever had, the way she helps me is endless.”

And just as she supports him, he praised her book on the red carpet.

“This has been a few years in the making,” he said. “We read a lot of children’s books and this is one of the best I’ve read. It’s truly something beautiful.”