Eva Mendes got candid about her “incredible” mom Eva Perez Suarez’s recovery from battling cancer.
“She lost my brother just a few years ago to cancer,” Mendes, 50, explained to the Today show in an interview on Tuesday, March 26, referring to her brother Carlos Mendez’s death in 2016. “This woman is incredible. She’s still funny as hell.”
Although her mom has finished treatment, the Hitch actress noted that she still has to bring her to several follow-up doctor appointments.
“If I take her to the doctor’s office, which I take her often, and they ask her, like, ‘Oh, you know, have you had this removed or do you have this?’ she goes, ‘Listen, it’s easier if I tell you what I still have. Everything’s gone,’” Mendes recalled to the outlet.
Two months ago, Mendes paid tribute to her mom on social media, while also revealing that she is a cancer survivor.
“This Barbie is my Hero 💕,” Mendes captioned a sweet photo via Instagram of the mother-daughter duo. “I wish this Barbie wasn’t so private then I’d be able to share everything she has survived – but the only thing she’ll let me share is that she is a cancer survivor. Like that’s not enough, I know. I see my strength in her eyes.”
In addition to her mother’s health journey, Mendes and her family have dealt with a lot in the past years, including Mendes’ older brother Carlos’ death from throat cancer in April 2016 at the age of 53. Less than two weeks later, Mendes and her husband, Ryan Gosling, welcomed second daughter Amada, 7, the same week as Carlos’ funeral. (Gosling, 43, and Mendes also share daughter Esmeralda, 9.)
“Losing my brother brought our family closer, and we were already close to begin with,” Mendes told Latina magazine in August 2016. “So to just see everybody be there for one another and show up, I feel so lucky to have them. We had a funeral service for [Carlos], and that same week, I had the baby. It was really, really intense and obviously beyond heartbreaking, but also kind of beautiful.”
Since Amada was born so shortly after Carlos’ death, she noted at the time that she hadn’t “really processed” it or had time to grieve yet, however, she shared she was trying to cherish her time with her kids.
“Right now it’s really about surviving those nights and trying to enjoy this time as much as possible with [our kids], and start the bond between Esmeralda and Amada,” she shared. “It’s a really, really special time. I’m loving it.”
