Eva Mendes Owns the Night

She's that gorgeous, hot Latina that every guy dreams about but girls don't hate her 'cause she's beautiful. Eva Mendes is warm, self-deprecating, straightforward and you feel that she would make a great BFF. Eva was in 2 Fast 2 Furious, co-starred with Will Smith in Hitch, She was Nic Cage's gal in Ghost Rider and will be a femme lead in the upcoming superhero actioner The Spirit. Now you can catch a very dramatic Eva acting opposite volatile Joaquin Phoenix as a disco diva with a heart of gold in the crime thriller We Own the Night.

Eva, all sparkly in a retro-look three quarter-sleeved Marc Jacobs dress with a silver disc pattern, very high heels and some cute, flashy hoop earrings, met with us in Beverly Hills where we got the inside scoop on working with cute Joaquin, playing her first very serious dramatic role, being Latina in Hollywood and working to launch her own projects.

Warning: We Own the Night is R-rated for the usual; sex, language and violence.

TeenHollywood: How did you sign up for this project? It seems a bit different for you.

Eva: Actually, I said no for a year because I'm a complete idiot. It ends up being the things I loved the most in life and the best experiences I have I usually say no to at the beginning. I first read the script James Gray [the writer/director] gave me and I thought 'you know I don't want to play the girlfriend role'. I've been really selective in my career to play independent women or women who have something to overcome and to not be just the girlfriend. He finally came back to me with a more enhanced role and then he said 'Joaquin Phoenix is definitely playing the role of Bobby' and then I go 'well, maybe'.

TeenHollywood: So, do you usually say 'no' and 'yes' later?

Eva: [laughs] Actually, I said no to Hitch and I was like 'I love Will but I want to be a serious actress. I don't want to do a romantic comedy'. I am an idiot, you know. And of course, meeting Will was like one of the highlights of my career, you know, and meeting Jada and then that movie. It's just so funny.

TeenHollywood: Your character really evolves in this film. She becomes more independent and not just an extension of her man. How did you develop that?

Eva: I definitely just wanted her to be a different person from when we first meet her. I wanted her to evolve somehow. Even in the most minor way, I wanted her to have a journey. She goes from being so completely in love with this person, and hanging on pretty much his every whim. She's in her late 20's yet it's almost like a love that most of us experience when we're very young; that 16-17-year-old love where you see a future with this person, you can't live without this person, you live and breathe this person. I think what happens is she realizes that she does have this strength within her to go on without him and it's a very mature decision.

TeenHollywood: What was it like working with Joaquin Phoenix?

Eva: Unbelievable. He is my dream co-star in the sense that he was so there for me. He knew that this was my first real dramatic role and experience and he, along with James, made this the most frightening experience but the most safe as well. I was emotionally just pushed and pushed but yet there was a safety net there, which was really beautiful because I've never quite had that experience before. Now, I'm kind of irritated at Joaquin because he's messed it up for all my future co-stars. Why did it have to be so good? He's a dear friend of mine.

TeenHollywood: So, now that you've gotten your feet wet with a very strong dramatic role, do you think you can't go back to the fluffy stuff?

Eva: I probably won't be doing [another Fast and Furious movie] but I had such a great time doing the 2nd one. Actually, I love those movies and they serve a purpose and those characters serve a purpose. I don't think I could do just movies like this because I think they'd take a toll on me because I study religiously and I immerse myself so deeply into it.

TeenHollywood: Did you go to the Studio 54 people from back in the disco era and talk to some of the women?

Eva: I'm friends with [hotel magnate] Ian Schrager and his family and he's a lovely man. Joaquin and I went out with Ian he was very gracious with giving us all these stories and just letting us know how [Studio 54] was really running and that was really interesting actually.

TeenHollywood: There is a scene in this film where you visit Joaquin's family for the first time and aren't really accepted. Were you ever dating someone and weren't accepted by their family?

Eva: I experienced it when I was younger with a lot of the moms. The dads always liked me. The dad's were always cool with me [laughs]. The moms were a little iffy. To be honest, I've experienced it a couple of times but once they gave me a chance they knew that I was [okay]. I think like back in high school absolutely when it wasn't as cool to be "Latin" you know what I mean? Yeah definitely.

TeenHollywood: You have one kinda racy love scene with Joaquin. Were you nervous?

Eva: It was nerve wracking but because it was a journey and because we saw so many different sides of her, I felt this was an accurate portrayal of this person and of their relationship. Was I scared out of my wits? Absolutely. I was really nervous that morning. I was frightened but you just do it. It was very intimate as well.

TeenHollywood: Has your mom seen that scene? It's the first scene in the movie. Some Latina moms can be really conservative.

Eva: [laughs] I have instructed all of my family that they must show up 15 minutes late. That's it. I told them. Thank God it's the first scene. I said 'Dad, Poppy you cannot be there on time. Nobody can'. It's a tough one. It premiered in Cannes and I'm sitting there in the audience and I was like 'oh my God, no that's me. That's my boob!' But I think it's actually more grotesque to be parading around in a film in skimpy clothes for no reason than to actually be true and authentic [to a love scene].

TeenHollywood: Are you still developing some material that you want to produce and act in? Isn't it hard to get projects off the ground in Hollywood?

Eva: I have a few options on books and I have a couple of scripts and I have to tell you, I thought acting was tough. Being a producer and trying to get something off the ground is heartbreakingly excruciating. It's even worse than acting because you feel so passionate about these projects. You're selling something that you love and when the studio doesn't see it or they don't get it, you're just like 'oh my God, what am I going to do'? So it's like I want to take out a loan and finance it myself. I'm just kind of learning by trial and error.

TeenHollywood: You are in two upcoming films. Can you talk about the re-make of The Women and then The Spirit?

Eva: Yeah. I just wrapped The Women and it was fantastic. A great experience. I did the role that Miss Joan Crawford played back in the day. I know, I'm going to get a lot of s**t for that one. I'm ready for it. No way did I try to copy what she did. I'm not that stupid but I definitely took it on as my own and I had a great, great time. Annette Benning's in the film, who's just unbelievable. It's just a modern day version. The ladies and I all got together and made sure that we modernized it. We made it relevant to today and the issues we face as women today. So yeah that was exciting.

TeenHollywood: And The Spirit?

Eva: In The Spirit, I'm Sand Sarif [The Spirit's true love]. I start that in just a couple weeks. Frank Miller gave me some of the old comics and I'm excited because I've never actually played like the real femme fatale and this woman, she'd eat you for breakfast. It's kind of fun.

TeenHollywood: What about the look of the character? Will you be a red-head?

Eva: Right now we're thinking kind of a very old meets new Rita Hayworth-ish kind of hair. We have a 40's feel to some of the outfits and stuff but obviously modernize it. I'm going a little red, but not red-red. I tried red a few years ago and it was the worst idea I ever had.

TeenHollywood: Do you know Gabe Macht who'll play The Spirit?

Eva: Yeah, I'm really excited to work with Gabriel Macht. I think he's exciting and new and I saw him in I think it was Love Song for Bobby Long and I thought he was lovely. I was like 'why doesn't this guy work more?' Then Scarlett Johanssen is also going to be in it and I did one of my first jobs about 8 or 9 years ago with Scarlett. She was like 14 or 15-years-old and she ran circles around me. I was like 'this little girl is going to be such a star' because she was telling me about the business and I was older than her and I just loved it.

TeenHollywood: Uh, what film was that?

Eva: It was called My Brother the Pig. I know [don't laugh]. I played this college girl that comes in and lives with the family and I take care of her little brother who I guess was like seven or something. I turn him into a pig accidentally and then we have to go back to Mexico to find my grandmother who knows how to reverse it. I'm not joking.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.