'Spirit' star Eva Mendes talks about nudity, Scarlett Johannson & Jennifer Lopez

Eva Mendes made a huge stir this year when she posed nude for Calvin Klein ads that censors deemed too hot for American television. And as jewel thief Sand Saref, she heats up "The Spirit" — literally.

In an interview with Moviefone, she says Scarlett Johannson is sweet, maternal and amazingly sexy. She reveals that she finds nudity beauriful and tasteful — but only on a natural body. And she thanks Jennifer Lopez for breaking stereotypes about Latino women and opening a lot of doors.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

About working with Scarlett Johannson:

She's very sweet, and she's very maternal. And of course, she has this amazing look of just being completely, not only beautiful, but extremely, extremely sexy. She just oozes sexuality. Yet there is such a maternal quality in her that is so beautiful that I think people would be kind of surprised and impressed by. And she's smart, but I think you can tell that she's smart. She's a smart cookie.



About that Calvin Klein ad and nudity in general:

I think we're a bit conservative when it comes to nudity and sexuality. And it's so funny because I'd much rather see a beautiful nude of a woman than see these girls with these Triple-D fake boobs in a bikini. To me, that's more vulgar than seeing a beautiful nude of a natural body. ... I'm not against fake breasts at all; I'm not against augmentation. But I think when you get to that point of vulgarity where it's not in proportion, that's more vulgar to me than a beautiful nude.


On nudity in films:

If I'm going to be emotionally naked, sometimes a script will call for me to be physically naked as well. I would never frown upon it. And I think in Hollywood some actresses do frown upon it. They say it like an honor: "I would never do nudity!" And it's like, oh come on! I'm an actress, you know, I'll do what it takes to make my part as honest as it can be.


On Latinos being underrepresented in Hollywood (and how Jennifer Lopez is helping to change that):

When I started in the business 10 years ago, it was pretty pathetic as far as every time I went out for a role in an audition, they really did ask me to do it with a Spanish accent. And I did because I needed work and I was starting out. And there were hardly any roles. But I think I've seen so much progress in the last 10 years... in the last 5 years. ... I have to thank people like Jennifer Lopez, who is definitely a beautiful Latin woman, but she's American. I think she was a pioneer as far as breaking down those stereotypical walls, and I think it's getting better and better as far as the quality roles, absolutely. Now I just need to see more Asian people being represented.