‘I wanted to be at home with my babies’

Eva Mendes is no quitter.

The “Hitch” actress — who hasn’t appeared on the silver screen since 2014 — took to Instagram on Friday, firing back at reports she’s turned her back on the movie industry.

“I never quit acting,” the 48-year-old star defiantly declared in a post that has clocked up more than 55,000 likes.

“I wanted to be home with my babies and fortunately my other business ventures allowed me to do that more than acting would,” she added.

Mendes began dating Ryan Gosling, 41, back in 2011, before the couple welcomed two children together: Esmerelda in 2014 and Amada in 2016.

Outside of acting, the Miami, Florida-born beauty has numerous side hustles. She serves as the creative director for CIRCA Beauty, a cosmetics brand sold at Walgreens. The talented star has also designed linens and dinnerware for Macy’s department stores.

But it isn’t just motherhood and her side businesses that have kept Mendes away from the movies.

The star revealed that she was also “not excited about the stereotypical roles” that were offered to her in the mid-2010s, especially after working on the film “Lost River” — her last big-screen credit.

“That was a dream project. That’s a tough act to follow,” the actress said of the movie, which was directed by Gosling.

Last year, Mendes made her return to the entertainment industry with a small speaking role in an episode of the Australian children’s TV show “Bluey.”

And while she currently has no upcoming film or TV projects on the horizon, she hasn’t ruled out a return to the screen.

Earlier this year, she told “The View,” however, that she’s now fussier about roles.

“I have such a short list of what I will do. Like before kids, I kind of was up for anything — I mean, if it was a fun project,” she stated, adding that she will not take violent or highly sexualized roles.

Mendes told her Instagram followers that she wanted to rebuff reports that she had quit acting in order to “shift the narrative.”

For now, star is gearing up to travel to Australia, where Gosling will film “The Fall Guy” — an action drama that will co-star Emily Blunt.