Eva Mendes questions her identity as her children grow older with Ryan Gosling

Now that Eva Mendes' daughters are getting older, the former movie star is questioning her decision to step away from acting to focus on her family.

During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Mendes said she never felt lost when she became a mother, but now she is starting to question her identity. Mendes has raised her two daughters, Esmerelda, 10, and Amada, 8, whom she has with longtime love Ryan Gosling.

“I didn't actually feel lost, I had a clear feeling,” she told Barrymore about motherhood. “But then I felt lost. Then came the cliche of 'Who am I now when the children can survive on their own?'”

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Eva Mendes wondered “who” she was now after stepping away from acting for over a decade to raise her two daughters. (Adam Christopher /NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Mendes noted that her daughters are only eight and ten, but they no longer need her “every second.”

“It's a little different, but I like to talk to my girls about all kinds of things. That makes me feel very fulfilled,” Mendes said.

Earlier this week, Mendes appeared on “Good Morning America” ​​to promote her children's book “Desi, Mami and The Never-Ending Worries” and opened up about whether she will ever return to the big screen.

“I don't know. When there were interesting roles… I kind of felt like I had made it, you know? I was like, 'I just worked with Ryan Gosling. He's the best,'” she said, referring to her 2012 film “The Place Beyond the Pines.”

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling at the 2024 Olympic Games. (Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images)

“Then I felt lost. Then there was this cliché of 'Who am I now if the children can survive on their own?'”

— Eva Mendes

“Working with him and what we created together was such a highlight of my career that I thought, 'Now is a good time to like 'Seinfeld' and just stop.' So, who knows?”

Mendes said her attitude has changed since the birth of her children.

Eva Mendes wrote the children’s book “Desi, Mommy and the Endless Worries”. (Gotham/Getty Images for ABA)

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“Acting is something I will always love. Now that I have kids, I'm pretty extreme,” said Mendes Entertainment tonight in 2020. “There are just so many things I won't do. For example, I won't do most of the films I've done in the past. A lot of things fall off that list. I don't want to do anything too violent. Of course, I don't want to do anything too sexual or sexual at all.”

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling have two daughters together. (Sonia Recchia/Getty Images)

Mendes made a small appearance on the children's show “Bluey” in 2021, which she said was a “killer” in her household.

When she spoke about her book on “Good Morning America,” she noted that writing the book actually helped her as a mother.

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“Desi has these never-ending worries – I do too,” Mendes admitted of the book's main character. “And she's trying to work with her brain to make sure it's not a bully, sending her all these negative thoughts, and that it's like a best friend to her.”

Eva Mendes previously said that having children made her “extreme.” (Tim Hunter / Newspix/Aliah Anderson/Getty Images)

Mendes revealed that her children are fans of her latest project. “They love it. I think they love it. They are very harsh critics though,” she said, before telling a story that she insisted was true and not just made for TV.

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“My little daughter, who just turned 10, was having a hard time, and I swear to you, I go into her room and she's reading the book… It really touched me,” she said.

Caroline Thayer of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.