Eva Longoria Says She Didn’t Realize Being a Latina Actress onDesperate HousewivesWas a ‘Big Deal’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

“I didn’t know it was a big deal,” she says. “People kept telling me, ‘This is a big deal.’ I was a Mexican woman with a white gardener.”

Eva Longoria in Hollywood, California in March 2024.Emma McIntyre/Getty

Emma McIntyre/Getty

Desperate Housewives,which ran for eight seasons from 2004 to 2012, didn’t just catapult Longoria to fame, it also proved to be an excellent training ground for the aspiring director and producer.

“I always had an itch to be behind the camera, and I usedDesperate Housewivesas my film school,” she continues.

The show “changed everything” for Longoria, she acknowledged during an appearance onToday with Hoda and Jennain June.

“It was a decade of my life and it was the No. 1 show in the world, so I just remember the first time I went to London. I had never been to London before, and there was a big crowd of people outside the hotel. And I was like, ‘Gosh, who’s here? Is Bono here? Somebody important must be here!’ And the driver was like, ‘You…’ And I was like, ‘No, somebody like, big. Like a big deal!”

“And he didn’t understand that I didn’t understand,” the actress continued. “The global reach of that show, at the time where there was no streaming.”

Jesse Metcalfe and Eva Longoria on ‘Desperate Housewives.'.Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

AlthoughLand of Womenrequired Longoria to tackle Castilian Spanish, it proved a welcome challenge.

“I was just like my brain hurt at the end of the days. But it was a joy,” she toldAPin July. “I love exploring new characters through language or accents.”

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Latinos in Hollywood: Owning Our Destinypremieres at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 11 on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.

source: people.com