Interview

It was the casting quandary of the decade: What actress was tough, sexy, and talented enough to play the conniving man- and scene-stealer Crystal Allen in this fall's remake of MGM's The Women? Filmed in Bitch-o-Rama, the 1939 classic starred a young Joan Crawford as Crystal. Those were big pumps to fill.

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Think hard. Is it any wonder that they picked Eva Mendes? The frank and clever Los Angeles native has proven she's a master (not just a mistress) at keying into both male and female fantasies of womanhood. She's got a cool beauty and poise redolent of Sophia Loren (see Mendes's new Calvin Klein Underwear campaign or her role in Frank Miller's upcoming The Spirit), but she can banter, Katharine Hepburn-style, with the best of them (as she did with Will Smith in Hitch). And perhaps most charmingly of all, Mendes showed astounding grace under fire earlier this year when she quietly checked into rehab without a single Lohanesque episode to her credit. It all shows that Mendes is so much more than a very pretty face and-as even she would tell you-a great rack. Finally, Hollywood is ready to listen and not just look.

DAVID COLMAN: Actresses usually don't have very much to say, and they're very guarded. But you seem to actually have a good time being interviewed.

EVA MENDES: Don't forget: I'm an actress. You know what? To be honest, it's a very awkward business. It's one of those things where it's almost like a first date. There's a way you want to come across. You want to show your goods. The truth starts to slip out sometimes.

DC: I think it may have been a date counselor who told me that you should really pay attention on the first date because that's when people are the most honest.

EM: So this is like our first date.

DC: So hey, foxy lady, where would I take you on our first date to really impress you?

EM: Any kind of live-music venue. I mean, if you took me to Coachella for our first date, it would probably be a done deal. It would be a sure thing.

DC: I'm not really a crowd person.

EM: Actually, I'm not a crowd person either. But there are ways around that.

DC: Limos?

EM: No. [laughs] Can people stop saying limos? When do you think we'll stop saying that? It's so '80s. When you say limo, it reminds me of prom every time.