Eva Mendes rocketed her from B-movie actress via mostly forgettable TV shows to an eye-catching breakthrough part in the gritty cop drama “Training Day.”
The actress agonized before taking the role of his wife, because she only had two scenes and for one of them she had to be nude – potentially the kiss of death for a young actress with ambitions for a serious career.
She recalled, “I put myself out there for that part, emotionally and physically,” she recalls. “Going nude is a really big deal for Americans – even more so when you are trying to become established and you are doing it for a film that you have only two scenes in.”
She added, “I took a big risk. I went full-frontal – and back! Afterwards I was like, ‘Did I do the right thing?’ But the reaction was very positive. And I realized that if you put yourself out there people will respond. That was the payoff. But it could have gone the other way. What’s weird is that we have all these magazines in America – Maxim, FHM, Stuff, Playboy – and it’s OK to print them, yet it’s not OK to go nude for a film, for art. I don’t get it.”