Eva Mendes recalls shocking racism she faced in acting career

Eva Mendes has exposed the racism she experienced while trying to build a career as an actress.

The 50-year-old American star began acting in the late 1990s but has revealed she struggled to be cast in roles as Hollywood bosses objected to her Cuban heritage.

Opening up to The Sunday Times, the star said, "That's all they would say at the beginning - 'she's too ethnic for this, too ethnic for that'. It was so crazy. That was the constant note."

She continued, "Then, at some point, it switched to, 'Oh, ethnic is cool now' or, 'Being Latina is cool'. It gave me energy because it would make me so mad and then I'd get that fuel that I needed."

Eva has not appeared in any films since the 2014 thriller Lost River, which was directed by her partner Ryan Gosling, and says she is in no rush to return to the craft.

She explained, "I was never in love with acting. I don't mean this in a self-deprecating way, but I wasn't a great actress... I had my moments when I worked with really great people."

She went on to say she gave her best performances in Lost River and 2012's The Place Beyond on the Pines - which also starred Gosling.

Mendes said, "He gets something out of me that's never been accessible before."