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10 Reasons We Love Eva Mendes.
Last week a remake of George Cukor's 1939 camp-classic The Women debuted to positive reviews nationwide. The all-star all-female, cast includes Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Meg Ryan, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, Candice Bergen and, our girl, Eva Mendes. In a role made-famous by Joan Crawford, Mendes plays "the spritzer girl" -- Crystal Allen -- a sexy, man-eating, home-wrecker who works behind the counter at Saks Fifth Avenue (a girl's gotta eat, right?). And despite the potential for playing Crystal Allen as a flat villainess, Eva's portrayal is more relatable. In a recent press conference Mendes defended her choice to play up her character's human side.
We didn’t want to vamp her out and make her this evil woman with an arched eyebrow, we wanted to realize that she was just very desperate. She’s like, "Look, Mary Haines (Meg Ryan). You’ve had your fun, you’ve had money all of your life, you have your kid with this guy, you have your houses, let me have a piece of the pie for a few years."
Acting aside, the Cuban-American actress is also a savvy self-promoter. Whether posing for Revlon, Campari, Levi's, or Calvin Klein, Mendes has proven that she's a viable marketing spokesperson. No stranger to the limelight, she's graced the covers of top magazines: Vogue Italia, Marie Claire, Maxim (twice), Shape, Jane, Interview, Cosmopolitan, Elle and Latina (twice). This fall, Mendes launches her own bedding line, Vida, at Macy's. Why? "I'm Cuban, we love to sleep," she says. And though she's not afraid to bare it all (Reason #3, below), she keeps many aspects of her life private including the reason for her stint in rehab this spring and her political affiliations.
 With an upcoming movie opposite Samuel L. Jackson, a few ALMA nominations under her belt, a dozen magazine covers on the CV, and a few multi-million dollar sponsorships in her grasp, Hollywood moguls best take notice: Miss Mendes has intrepidly secured her place alongside the most important and impressive Latino actors working today. Do we really need more reasons to love Eva Mendes? Yes. Here's our list.
10 | Eva is a giver not a taker.
We love it when Hollywood stars give back, and Eva is no stranger to giving. In a recent interview with E! Online she says:
Up until recently, I was really uncomfortable with having success and enjoying it. How can I have so much? It's not fair. How can the world have so little? I've really broken it down to this simple thing: I deal with everything by giving it away. It's genius. It works.
 9 | She wears her BF's undies.
Leave the teddies and garter belts to Victoria's Secret Models, Eva prefers her man's Calvin's. If our man was as hot as her long-time boyfriend, the Peruvian filmmaker George Augosto, we'd wear his briefs too.
8 | Eva reads....like, books and stuff.
She's no bimbo bombshell, Mendes is proactive about finding smart, relevant roles in the books she reads.
I want to bring certain meatier female roles to life, so every time I read a really interesting book, I buy the rights.
7 | She wanted to be a nun?
Thank God Eva decided against her religious aspirations. Otherwise, she'd be the hottest nun on the North American continent. What a waste -- such a hot bod hidden behind those ugly black robes and nurse shoes.
I guess there is this little Catholic girl inside me somewhere. But I did want to be a nun when I was very little. Well, that was until my sister told me that they don't get paid. Then, I went off the idea really quickly.
6 | Therapy is a good thing.
Though Eva claims that therapy was frowned upon during her childhood, she's become an astute promoter of therapy. Mendes tells Interview magazine:
I love therapy. It has just enriched my life. I come from a family, from a heritage where you don't really go to therapy unless you're crazy. I want people to know that that's so not the case. It's enriching.
 5 | She's a polyglot!
No polyglot isn't a sickness. Eva is one of the few Latino actors in T-town who is completely fluent in Spanish . That's sexy right? And that's not all. She speaks conversational French. Ooh la la! But she didn't always feel this way.
[When I was younger ] I wanted to have finer features, I didn't want to be so dark, I didn't want to have my mom speaking Spanish in front of the school where everyone was watching. But thank God it was just a phase.
4 | She farts!
When a dude farts it's gross. But when a smoking hot Latina lets one rip, it's totally endearing. Right? Right?!?
3 | She's not afraid to get naked.
Mendes made international headlines when her new TV spot for Calvin Klein was censored for being too sexy. But, it's not the first time she's bared it all for her "art." Mendes has also posed topless for Vogue Italia and nude for Flaunt.
It makes me more proud. I'm sure if it was for some kind of independent brand that wasn't as iconic as Calvin Klein, I don't think I would have done it because that's too much of a risk. But when it's Calvin Klein and it's (fashion photographer) Steve Meisel shooting you and you get to be a part of this amazing iconic brand and their legacy, you just kind of go for it.
2 | She's plays with the big boys.
Miss Mendes has played opposite some of Hollywood's top actors including Denzel Washington (twice!), Samuel L. Jackson, Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, Johnny Depp and Will Smith. Work!
1 | She's freaking hot.
Um... Have you, like, seen her? Eva is smokin.' That's probably why Maxim ranked her as the 7th Hottest Woman Alive (two years in a row!). And AskMen.com ranked her higher as #4 Most Desirable Woman. Done and done.
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