Eva Mendes admitted in an interview with The Sunday Times that she was “never in love with acting,” so there’s no real urgency to end her decade and count a break. The actor hasn’t starred in a feature film since a small supporting role in partner Ryan Gosling’s 2014 directorial “Lost River,” though she lent her voice in a 2021 episode of “Bluey” on ABC Kids.

“I’ve never been in love with acting. “I don’t mean this to be self-deprecating, but I wasn’t a great actress,” Mendes said. “I had my moments where I worked with really great people.”

As far as Mendez sees it, her best acting came when she starred opposite Gosling in the 2012 crime drama “The Place Beyond on the Pines” or when he directed her in “Lost River.” She said: “He brings something out of me that has never been accessible before.”

Mendes told “The View” in 2022 that she hopes to perform again someday, although the project would have to be “special” and not involve violence or sexuality. In her new interview with The Sunday Times, Mendes said acting with Gosling would be an easy way to get her back on screen (“That’s the only thing I’d like to do”).

Mendes’ disinterest in sexualized roles comes as no surprise, as her 16-year acting career often featured characters who were one-dimensional beauties and eye candy. She admitted to The Sunday Times: “There were some pretty bad roles.” There was a time in her career when she was either cast because of her looks or rejected because of her Cuban heritage.

“That’s all they would say in the beginning: ‘she’s too ethnic for this, too ethnic for that,’” Mendes said. “It was so crazy. That was the constant tone. Then at some point it turned into, “Oh, being ethnic is cool now” or “Being Latina is cool.” It gave me energy because it made me so angry and then I got the fuel I needed.”

Mendes’ last starring role in a film was the 2012 drama “Girl in Progress,” directed by Patricia Riggen. The Lionsgate release only grossed $3 million at the box office. That same year, Mendes played supporting roles in critical favorites ‘Place Beyond the Pines’ and Leos Carax’s Cannes smash ‘Holy Motors’. Mendes’ last live-action television role was a supporting turn in Larry David’s 2013 HBO original film “Clear History.”