Cinecon.com Interview: Eva Mendes of "Stuck on You"
Call her successful, call her Hollywood’s newest “it” girl. But definitely don’t call her J. Lo. Eva Mendes is out to make a name for herself and she doesn’t want anyone drawing any comparisons between her and the other Latino beauty. Still, the 29-year-old beauty is taking her success with stride and isn’t about to let it go over her head. Stuck on You, the new comedy from the Farrelly Brothers, is Eva’s fourth film of the year (The other three includes 2 Fast 2 Furious, Out of Time, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico) and plays April in the movie, who befriends conjoined twins, Bo and Walt (Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear.) She was in New York City recently to promote the movie and we got a chance to catch up with her to talk about the movie and also her sudden celebrity status. Q: Was doing this movie a release from doing some of the action films you’ve done recently? EVA: I did. It fell in place, and it was nice to not have a gun or have a major attitude and be the tough girl, but the real reason is that I’m obsessed with the Farrelly Brothers. Q: How so? EVA: Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin are two of my favorite films ever and that was before I was an actress. So, I’ve always just taken to their sense of humor and loved their films. So, when this came up, before I even knew what the character was, when my agent told me the Farrellies are casting for the new film and that “We’re probably going to get you into read,” I was like, “Oh my God, yeah, whatever it is!” I didn’t care what the role was. Q: It sounds like you would’ve done it for no money? EVA: I’m obsessed with them [but] I’m not stupid. (Laughs) Q: In the movie, April is kind of like this aspiring starlet. Did you draw this from anyone you know, being an actress yourself? EVA: I drew from a few people that I’ve run into through the years [like] the girls in the casting offices, but the thing that makes her different, she does give in to certain stereotypes such as the fake boobs and the fake tan and the really streaked hair and stuff like that. But where she’s different, is that she’s such a great person and she doesn’t hangout with people because of who they are or because of where they can get her. She hangs out with people because she likes them. When she first meets the twins, she’s so excited to meet normal people. To her, they’re normal. It’s like, “Oh, finally,” and she’s so excited and at the end, I love that at the end of the scene, that first scene when I meet the twins, the Farrellies left a line that I ad-libbed which was, “You guys are fun!” and they closed the scene with that and I’m so glad because I just said it when I there. I didn’t think about it, but it just came out because I felt like she finally found people that are fun and so not pretentious and just having a good time and she got them and it clicked. Q: Talking about fun, was it fun working with the Farrelly Brothers? EVA: No. (Laughs) I’m just kidding. They were WAY more than what I expected because I expected them to be funny and brilliant and great overall. But I did not expect the Farrelly’s to be such family men. Their families are around all the time. Both of them have amazing wives and children and that says a lot about who they are as men, and they were just so loveable and open and, I got to tell you, I’ll be an extra in their films any day. Q: And how was it working with both Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear in every scene? EVA: They’re both so amazing. Matt and Greg are so different. Greg is more the overtly funny one. Matt was more the dry and maybe the more deadpan funny one, but they were both equally funny. So, I had so much to go off of, and I loved it. Q: As a result of Stuck on You, do you want to do more comedy for the future? EVA: Yeah. It does, but I also know that I’ve been spoiled because I also feel that I’ve worked with the best. I’ve feel like I’ve been spoiled and I know that not every comedy is like this, but yes, it does make me want to venture out and see what I can explore comedically. Q: Are you surprised at how well your career is going? EVA: Half and half. I have very high expectations for myself, but yet, I can’t believe it’s happened this quickly or that it’s happened one after the other like this. So, I’m a little bit shocked about that and a little bit surprised just about my year and the people that I’ve worked opposite. Q: Are you starting to lose some of your privacy? EVA: I’m losing a little bit, and as the moments go by, it’s a little bit more. That’s a little bit weird. I’m not used to that at all, and I don’t like it, but I understand that it’s part of it and I just have to learn to deal with it. Q: And how do you deal with it? EVA: I haven’t really been dealing with it. I just don’t…first of all, I do read everything that’s written about me. I do. I’m not one of those who says, "I don’t read the tabloids." Are you crazy? I’m like, "I’m in the tabloids, let me check it out," (Laughs) and I take it as a laugh. I do laugh at it and I also like to see how much of it is the truth and how much of it is not. It's interesting to me. Q: What’s the most ridiculous thing written about you? EVA: I think that it was in The Star or some tabloid that [said] I was in Miami when I was shooting this movie and I was topless at the pool, trying to pick up on a girl. I was like, "I don’t remember that night." So, that was pretty funny and I called my mom and told her to get it because that was the first time I’d made the tabloids and it was a little thing, and to me, it’s not a big deal, but I just want to prep my family for the other things that I’m sure are going to be said and done.
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