Eva Mendes was born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents and was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale by her mother after her parents' divorce; Mendes has said that her mother "suffered so much to make my life OK" during her early years. Her father was a car salesman and her mother, also named Eva, is now an elementary school principal. Eva Mendes is the youngest of four children (she has two sisters and a brother). Eva Mendes was raised Roman Catholic and aspired to be a nun. Eva Mendes is also fluent in Spanish. As a child, Mendes was teased about her "buck teeth".
