Eva Mendes Plays the Waiting Game

If one word could be used to describe the making of "We Own the Night," it would be “perseverance.” At the Variety screening series on Thursday, director James Gray shared his difficulties in casting the cop drama. "I never once had an actor say, 'Yes, I want to do your movie.'" said the helmer. "I was in New York researching the movie and saw a cheesy talkshow that Eva [Mendes] was on. She was obviously a thousand times brighter than the person interviewing her," said Gray. "We sent her the script. And we got the answer: 'NO!'"

The lovely Eva was on hand at the screening to explain her decision at time. "A year goes by, and he's relentless. It's amazing," said the thesp. "Then I heard he might offer it to another actress that shall remain nameless, and suddenly I'm like, 'What?'"  Luckily for Gray, his persistence paid off and Mendes finally hoped on board.  (E. Maxwell)

On The Town Photo Gallery Nicole Fiscella, Jessica Szohr, Blake Lively and Nan Zhang attend the "Gossip Girl" •View Photo Gallery • All Variety Photo Galleries