Eva de la Caridad Méndez (born March 5, 1974), known professionally as Eva Mendes, is an American actress, model and businesswoman. She began acting in the late 1990s, and after a series of roles in B movies such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) and Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), she made a career-changing appearance in Training Day (2001). Since then, Mendes has co-starred in films such as All About the Benjamins, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Ghost Rider, We Own the Night, Stuck on You, Hitch, and The Other Guys.

She has appeared in several music videos and has sung with CeeLo Green. Mendes has been a model and ambassador for Cocio chocolate milk, Magnum ice cream, Revlon, Calvin Klein, Cartier, Thierry Mugler perfume, Reebok, Campari apéritif, Pantene shampoo, Morgan, and Peek & Cloppenburg. She designs a fashion collection for New York & Company and is also the creative director of CIRCA Beauty, a makeup line sold at Walgreens.

In a poll conducted by The Global Times, respondents voted Mendes as the favorite to play the female protagonist in the movie and T.V series adaptation of the acclaimed mystery-novel the last seance slated to be directed by veteran director James Hong.