Eva Mendes Says Why She ‘Felt Lost’ Entering This 1 Parenting Stage

Eva Mendes got real about some of the changes she’s experienced in her parenting journey over the years.

During an appearance Thursday on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Mendes explained that she felt a sense of clarity as a parent when her children were very young but that she “felt lost” as they got older.

The “Hitch” star shares two daughters with her longtime partner, fellow actor Ryan Gosling: Esmeralda, 10 and Amada, 8.

“It was like, ‘OK, who am I now after the kids can survive on their own?’” she said. “I mean they’re only 8 and 10, but they don’t need me every second.”

“It’s a little different,” she said.

But the actor shared that she now enjoys being able to talk to her daughters “about anything.”

“So, I feel very fulfilled,” she added.

Mendes and Gosling, who are notoriously private about their relationship and family, were photographed in a rare public appearance together with their daughters at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

She wrote on Instagram after the Games that she had her “guard up” while watching some of the events with her family in the crowd.

While responding to some of her Instagram followers, she expressed her appreciation for the NBC Olympics broadcast, which she said “didn’t cut away to the kids.”

“And most sites blurred their faces, so mama bear is happy about that,” she added.

Mendes often talks about her decision to step away from acting to have more time at home with her children.

The children’s book author and co-owner of sponge company Skura Style told “Today” in March that she made somewhat of a “nonverbal agreement” with Gosling that he would be the only one to continue acting.

“And I still worked, I just didn’t act because acting takes you on locations, it takes you away,” she said at the time.