Her acting career began in the late 1990s , with a series of roles in B films such as Children of the Corn V : Fields of Terror ( 1998 ) and Urban Legends : Final Cut ( 2000 ) .Mendes 's performance in Training Day ( 2001 ) marked a turning point in her career , and led to parts in the commercially successful films 2 Fast 2 Furious ( 2003 ) and Hitch ( 2005 ) , the latter of which made her one of the first minority actors to play the lead in a mainstream romantic comedy .
The film Hitch was the latter of which made Eva Mendes one of the first minority actors to play the lead in a mainstream romantic comedy .