Eva Mendes Has Zero Regrets About Having Children in Her 40s: 'Could Not Have Raised Kids in Any Other Era'

Being an older mom hasn't exhausted Eva Mendes. The 50-year-old actress is glad she waited until she was middle-aged to have children.

The Training Day star spoke to People in their latest issue about why she didn't have children in her 20s, a decision that Mendes says was for the best. With her longtime partner, actor Ryan Gosling, Mendes has two daughters, Esmeralda Amada, 9, and Amada Lee, 8.

"When I was 40, it was a big deal for people when I was pregnant, and it wasn't for me," Mendes told the publication. "And then I was 42 and I was pregnant with my second one and people were like, 'Oh my God, you're going to be so tired. That's why people have kids in their 20s.' I was like, that's the most sorry, asinine thing I've ever heard."

As for raising kids in her 50s, Mendes admits that "it takes more patience." "In my 20s, I shouldn't have even been around a child. I was just foul-mouthed and smoking. I could not have raised kids in any other era of my life but now, for sure."

As for taking a break from acting to be a full-time mom–her last credit was in a 2021 episode of children's animated show Bluey–Mendes calls it "the easiest decision I've ever made."

"I was older and I knew that my kids are going to be little once, and whatever I do or don't do right now is going to affect them the rest of their life," she said.

"Your career comes and goes but kids, yeah, that was easy for me. "They're just formative years. I wanted to be there for all of it."

Mendes, who began dating Gosling in 2011, has stood closely by his side, albeit not being regularly seen with him in the public eye. On Instagram, she constantly cheers Gosling on, whether applauding his Cuban accent on Saturday Night Live, or defending him from Barbie critics.