Eva Mendes Stepped Away From Acting To Be Home With Her Kids—Here’s Why We Love Her for It

One mom relates to the actress and commends her for her decision.

Fact checked by Sarah Scott

Actress Eva Mendes is helping to refocus the expectations of working moms, along with her husband, Ryan Gosling, and their two daughters.

In a new interview with NBC's Today, the Hitch actress says it was a “no-brainer” when she decided to take a step back from her acting career for her daughters, Esmeralda, 9, and Amada, 7.

"I still worked. I just didn’t act because acting takes you on locations; it takes you away," she explains in the interview. "It was almost just like a non-verbal agreement that it was like, 'OK, he’s going to work and I’m going to work. I’m just going to work here.'"

Mendes previously made it clear she never “quit acting,” but rather restructured her career and projects to be more present for her children. It's a move I relate to and totally commend.

While calling out several news articles with headlines questioning her decision to take a step back, Mendes wrote in a 2022 Instagram post, “I wanted to be home with my babies and fortunately, my other business ventures allowed me to do that more than acting would.”

She added, “Also, I was not excited about the stereotypical roles being offered to me at the time. Especially after working on the film Lost River—that was a dream project. That’s a tough act to follow."

The point of the post, she said, was to “shift that narrative.”

The 2014 film, written and directed by Gosling, was the last movie Mendes appeared in before her acting hiatus.

She and Gosling both met while filming the 2012 drama The Place Beyond the Pines. The extremely private couple, who rarely appear on red carpets or events together, confirmed their marriage in 2022, after building a life together for more than a decade.

Along with Mendes, Gosling too has made his family a priority, stepping away from Hollywood for four years between 2018 and 2021, before his Oscar-nominated role as Ken in the wildly popular 2023 film Barbie.

While Mendes did not attend the Oscars, she made her support for him publicly known in an Instagram post following Gosling’s “Kenergetic” performance that stole the awards show. “You took Ken all the way to the Oscar’s, RG,” she wrote. “Now come home, we need to put the kids to bed.”

When asked about the post during her NBC interview, Mendes says, “Because that’s what it’s about. You go, you do your job the best you can, and then you come home.”

She also says, “He went and he did his job. He just happens to be really good at his job. And he did it and he came home."

The emotional spousal support seems to go both ways. Gosling, who won a Golden Globe in 2017 for his role in La La Land, honored Mendes’ sacrifices so he could continue working.

“My lady was raising our daughter, pregnant with our second, and trying to help her brother fight his battle with cancer,” he said during his acceptance speech. “If she hadn’t taken all that on so I could have this experience, it would surely be someone else up here other than me."

Since her last starring role in 2014, Mendes has launched a line of bed linens and dinnerware at Macy’s. In 2013, she partnered with New York & Co. to launch her own successful fashion line, Eva by Eva Mendes. She is also the creative director of the Walgreens makeup brand Circa Beauty and launched the Skura Style household product line in 2022. Her new picture book, titled Desi, Mami & the Never-Ending Worries, hits shelves September 17, 2024. All of this allows her to be close to home and her daughters.

As a mom of two boys, almost the same age as Mendes’, I can relate to her desire to change career course in order to spend time with her kids.

I changed career paths in 2021, taking a risk by leaving a fairly steady news anchor position—with decent benefits—to join the freelance lifestyle. There were several factors in my decision to leave, but being present for my boys was number one.

It was absolutely scary and change is really difficult especially after spending your life tying your identity in with a job, that really is just that—a job. After long conversations and budget crunching with my husband, it became clear that it made the most sense for everyone in our family. And not to mention the daycare costs we would be saving with one parent working on projects from home.

According to the Mom Project, 43% of women leave the workforce after having children. That percentage nearly doubles when it comes to women leaving a position for a job that better supports their work-life situation.

Like Mendes, I am part of that lucky 83% that has the luxury of being able to juggle finances and schedules to be more present in my kids' lives. I wanted to give up projects that would take me away from them, and that would potentially make me miss important moments that I would never get back. The job, whether it’s in Hollywood or in news, will always be there in some capacity, but those important moments will not.

What worked for me once had changed once I had my boys. My tastes, interests, perspectives, and priorities became different.

And all of that is OK.

Learning to be comfortable with change was the hardest part for me. But having a supportive partner—whether it’s financial, emotional, or both—as Mendes and myself are so fortunate to have, is what inspires so many women to take the leap of faith in changing careers and their perspectives with it.

Having kids while having a successful career is a game-changer, and having the right players on your team makes all the difference in the world.

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