Eva Mendes On Motherhood In Her 40s, Says Shes 'Obsessed' With Hanging Out With Her Kids

Eva Mendes is dishing out details about her life as a mother in her 40s. 

Mendes, 48, shared with TODAY ’s Hoda Kotb on Friday about what motherhood has been like after taking a break from her career to raise her children. 

The “Training Day” actor, who shares two daughters with her partner Ryan Gosling, called parenting the “most creative thing” she’s ever done.

“I’m an actress, I’ve designed clothes, I’ve done a number of different things. But this is the most creative thing, is to create life with them,” she said of her daughters Esmeralda, 7, and Amada, 6.

Mendes, whose acting career has expanded over two decades, explained why she decided to take a break from acting to leap into full-time motherhood.

“I really took it back to when I was little,” she explained. “My mom was able to be there for me at home until I was about 8 or 9 and those memories for me, that just formed who I was, those years with her.”

Mendes said she feels “lucky” to have the opportunity to enjoy time with her young girls. 

“I’m like, ‘Damn, I really want this time with them.’ And then now, you know, I’m obsessed,” Mendes told Kotb.

Despite stepping away from Hollywood, quality time doesn’t always come easy. Occasionally, she still has to travel away from her family. 

Before traveling for her interview with Kotb, Mendes was in London with her family, where Gosling is currently filming. Saying goodbye to her daughters wasn’t easy, she said. 

“Oh, it was so dramatic, hugging, and then my older one who’s 7 said, ‘Don’t leave us.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t do this,’” she said. “And then of course, I’m here, and they’re fine.” 

Mendes admitted she doesn’t really miss anything about acting, but that doesn’t mean she’s closing the curtains on her career just yet. 

“I think that’d be fun at some point. But I think my list has gotten so short. I don’t want to do anything violent, I don’t want to do anything sexual,” Mendes said about returning to acting in the future. “I’m like, ‘What’s left?’”