Here’s a look at how Mendes became one of the biggest names in Tinseltown.
The actor revealed her admiration for her mom because of her journey as a Cuban emigre.
She also has a younger half-brother on her father’s side, Carlo.
Some of her early memories are of accompanying each of her parents to their respective jobs.
Mendes explained, “He’d put me in a room to draw.
So now I don’t eat anything from a slaughterhouse.”
And so she considers L.A. her hometown, for all intents and purposes.
“I grew up in L.A., so I’m an L.A. girl,” Mendes toldInterviewback in 2008.
She went on to explain that her childhood was pretty average, despite being raised in Tinseltown.
“I basically come from a single-parent household,” Mendes toldWomen’s Health.
“Although I love my dad, my mom mostly raised four of us on her own.”
Through the years, the star has reflected on her humble childhood.
We didn’t use whole pieces of paper towel.
We shared, or used rags.
Mom didn’t even want us flushing all the time."
“She made me appreciate that from an early age,” Mendes shared with Women’s Health.
She even went as far as approaching famed acting coach Ivana Chubbuck to help develop her skills.
In an interview withW Magazine, she explained her stance on participating in nude scenes.
“I’m not an exhibitionist,” Mendes asserted.
“But, honestly, for my art, I’ll do anything, almost.
I’ll go there.”
She recognized the delicate balance of baring her body and maintaining a positive reputation.
“I’ve never felt objectified.
I’m incredibly calculated when it comes to my career,” she said.
Later, in 2008, she appeared in a Calvin Klein TV ad that controversially featured a nip slip.
Mendes found particular inspiration on- and off-screen when working with Bening in “The Women.”
As Mendes toldMarie Claireback in 2008, “Annette’s got taste and class.
She reminds me of one of those women back in the ’40s and ’50s.
“I don’t consider myself a Latin American actress,” Mendes toldW Magazineback in 2010.
It’s not onlyDrew Barrymoreand the blond Midwestern girl.”
Pointing at her face, she powerfully asserted, “This is also what we look like now.”
“I think being a woman in Hollywood is a big enough challenge,” she admitted.
However, in 2008, a journalist forInterviewstruck a nerve after making an insensitive comment to Mendes.
“I thought, that’s such a negative twist on it,” Mendes recalled.
I want to support people for their decisions when they do go in and get help."
“We did not meet on set,” she wrote in anInstagrampost.
Mendes illusively added, “The magic started way before.”
In 2013,Vultureasked how she and Gosling met, but Mendes declined to elaborate.
With cheeky evasive flair, Mendes quipped, “Who says we weren’t already?”
The mom of two teased, “I like to keep it all mysterious.
I’m a very mysterious woman.”
Mendes coyly told the podcast hosts, “I got it years ago.
I posted a picture, and I’ve gotten a lot of funny questions.”
[Then] Ryan Gosling happened."
She explained, “I mean, falling in love with him.
Then it made sense for me to have … not kids, but his kids.
It was very specific to him.”
I realized that this would be a life I would be really lucky to have."
If anything, she only feels more protective of her personal world now that children are in the picture.
My man and kids are private."
Mendes also recognized that she is privileged to afford the choice to be a stay-at-home mom.
“It is exciting that things are different now.”
“Losing my brother was incredibly difficult,” she toldWomen’s Healthin 2019.
“There was poetry to it all,” Mendes toldPeople.
Mendes' line touted chic and sophisticated pieces that were wearable and affordable for the everyday woman.
At the beginning of 2020, Mendes opened up toPeopleabout the inspiration behind her designs.
“I use my own memories and photographs of my family to create clothes.
My mom wore something like this in the ’80s.'”
Mendes' family was involved in more than just the ideation stage.
“It’s something I really appreciate because when designing something, you need real feedback.”
Perhaps we’ll see more of her designs in the near future!
