Eva Mendes is one happy camper.

“I’m big on therapy,” Mendes told me yesterday. “I’ve always said I love talking about therapy, because there’s nothing wrong with it. Why wait until something goes terrible in your life to start fixing things?”

Mendes, 34, has never talked details about why she did a stint in rehab earlier this year, but she did tell me that one of her biggest issues was coping with her own success. “Up until recently, I was really uncomfortable with having success and enjoying it,” Mendes says. “I just couldn’t deal with that. How can I have so much? It’s not fair. How can the world have so little?…I allowed it to mess with me in the sense that I just didn’t know how to handle it.”

Things are different now. “I’ve really broken it down to this simple thing: I deal with everything by giving it away,” Mendes explains. “It’s genius. It works.”

She literally gives things away, like the new pair of Cartier sunglasses she insisted an elderly friend of hers keep when she tried them on. “I said, ‘You need to have them. They look really good on you,’ ” Mendes says.

Speaking of looking good, Mendes has been the center of a censorship storm because of her new steamy ad campaign for the Calvin Klein perfume Secret Obsession. A 30-second TV spot was banned last month by U.S. television networks because it showed part of her nipple.

Mendes could have had the nip slip cut from the commercial (it’s in her contract), but says she found the slight nudity “beautiful and tasteful.”

In director and writer Diane English’s upcoming The Women, Mendes plays Crystal Allen, a smokin’ hot Saks salesgirl having an affair with married businessman Stephen Haines. Like Stephen’s wife Mary (Meg Ryan), Mendes credits the women in her life for getting her through the tough (and happy) times. “I’ve run into some women in my life who are like, ‘I don’t have any girl friends. I only have guy friends,’” Mendes says. “And I’m like to the guys, ‘Run for the hills when you hear a girl who says she only has guy friends.’ That is a bad situation, because all women should have their base of girls.”

Where does that leave her longtime filmmaker boyfriend George Augusto? “He actually grew up with all women in his family,” Mendes says. “His mom has five sisters, so he gets it.”

Mendes first auditioned for English about three years ago. “They were like, ‘Oh, we’re not sure if you can do funny. We’re not sure if you’re the right person for it,’ ” Mendes remembers “But then two years later, they told me I got the part. I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. I don’t know if I want it. Things have changed here, Miss Thang!’ ”

Obviously, she decided to go for it.

Since we never see or hear Stephen—as in the 1939 original, no men get screen time in the movie—did Mendes picture anyone in particular when thinking about him? “Yeah!” she says with a big smile. “It was a very specific person that I had in mind. But I can’t tell you any of that stuff. Those are secrets of the trade.”

Source

WENN

Eva Mendes is doubtful she will ever settle down and start a family, insisting children are probably “not on the cards” for her future.

The Hitch star has been linked to producer George Gargurevich for the last six years, but insists she has no desire to become a mother.

Speaking about the possibility of settling down, she says, “That’s very much ‘outlook hazy’. I mean I don’t see it. All my friends say, wait until you get to your mid-30s and you’ll be like ‘Oh my God, I have to have a baby’. But I’m 34, so maybe it’s not on the cards for me.”

Source

WENN

Eva Mendes once considered a career as a nun.

The 34-year-old was brought up as part of a strict Catholic family by her Cuban-American parents.

And Mendes admits that her religion nearly played a big part in her career choices – until she found out about the meagre salaries given to members of the church.

She says, “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.”

Source

WENN

Eva Mendes will have no hesitation about going under the knife, when her famously firm figure starts to sag.

The actress is currently baring all in a series of controversial Calvin Klein billboard advertisements, and has previously posed topless for Vogue magazine. But the 34 year old acknowledges her looks will only last so long – and she is ready to check in for some cosmetic surgery when she needs to.

Mendes tells Star magazine, “When the time comes, I’m going to nip it and tuck it all.”

Source

WENN

Eva Mendes has to be careful what she wears to premieres and parties – because her mother is her biggest fashion critic.

The Ghost Rider star’s mom never hesitates to pass judgment on her daughter’s attire, and berates her for not being more ladylike.

Mendes tells Parade magazine, “Every time I walk the red carpet, she’ll say, ‘Oh, the hair was a bit too much,’ or she’ll comment on the shoes. I know she’s just looking out for my best interests, wanting her daughter to shine.”

Source

WENN

Eva Mendes’ new commercial for the Calvin Klein perfume “Secret Obsession” has been deemed so risque that U.S. television networks won’t air it, says New York’s Daily News.

The uncut ad, which contains a peek-a-boo flash of Eva’s nipple as she writhes around topless on a bed, will titillate only on TVs abroad. A sanitized version will run in America on cable, says the Daily News.

“We believe the commercial is exceptional and hits the mark for Secret Obsession,” Calvin Klein president and COO Tom Murry said, adding that the network ban is “not entirely a surprise for the U.S. market.”

Source

Speak Up: What did you think? Too racy?