Eva Mendes - 1974

                  
A fiercely independent actress who refuses to be pressed into a conventional mode or typecast, Eva Mendes was studying marketing in the late '90s when an agent stumbled across her photo while perusing Mendes's neighbor's portfolio. Eva Mendes (born March 5, 1974) is an American actress, model, singer, and homeware and clothing designer. 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 broke into the Hollywood mainstream with an appearance in Training Day (2001). She has since starred in many films, including All About The Benjamins (2002); 2 Fast 2 Furious, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Out of Time and Stuck on You (all 2003); Hitch (2005); Ghost Rider and We Own the Night (both 2007); The Spirit (2008); The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009); The Other Guys and Last Night (both 2010); Holy Motors and Girl in Progress (both 2012) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2013).Soon appearing in an Aerosmith video and making her film debut in Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, Mendes worked her way through the gamut of aspiring actors to appear in such high-profile films as Urban Legends: Final Cut and Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

Dropping out of school soon after being randomly discovered by an agent, Mendes appeared in a few made-for-television productions and hammed it up with Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan in A Night at the Roxbury before being cast in a prominent role in Urban Legends: Final Cut. Working against typecasting despite her teen horror resumé, Mendes next took roles in Exit Wounds, Training Day, and All About the Benjamins. Mendes next began work on a children's book titled Crazy Leggs Beshee in which she wanted to introduce art, history, vocabulary, and values to children in a fun and easily comprehendable medium.In 2003, Mendes' career took off, with the actress taking on large roles in an ecclectic quartet of high-profile films. In 2 Fast 2 Furious she played a customs agent working with Paul Walker to bring down a Miami drug cartel. Out of Time found her reteaming with Training Day costar Denzel Washington. Flexing her comedic chops, Mendes was the love interest of half a pair of conjoined twins in the Farrelly brothers' Stuck on You. And in Once Upon a Time in Mexico she played another government agent, this time opposite Johnny Depp.Mendes would go on to appear in a number of films over the coming years, like The Wendell Baker Story, Hitch, Ghost Rider, The Other Guys, and Girl in Progress