‘I Was a Mexican Woman With a White Gardener!’: Eva Longoria on Realizing the Impact of Her Role in Desperate Housewives and Evolving Latino Representation
Eva Longoria recently sat down for a primetime special, Latinos in Hollywood: Owning Our Destiny, and dropped a truth bomb about her time on Desperate Housewives. It turns out that, back when she was serving iconic looks as Gabrielle Solis, she didn’t even realize she was breaking boundaries.
“I didn’t know it was a big deal,” she admitted. “People kept telling me, ‘This is a big deal.'” Then she added with the knowledge she gained in retrospect: “I was a Mexican woman with a white gardener!”
Looking back, Longoria now knows she wasn’t just playing a character—she was pushing Latina representation forward in a way that was rare in early 2000s Hollywood.
Realizing Gabrielle Solis Was More Than Just a Role
While Desperate Housewives was all about drama and scandal, Eva Longoria’s role as Gabrielle Solis had a much bigger impact than she realized.
Her portrayal of a fierce, layered Latina character wasn’t something Hollywood had seen much of at the time. John Quinones, host of the special, summed it up perfectly: “She was breaking ceilings, and there was nothing that was going to stop her.”
Even though she became one of the highest-paid TV actresses, it took Eva Longoria a while to fully grasp how Gabrielle’s complexity mattered beyond the screen.
Now? She gets it.
How Eva Longoria Went From Actress to Hollywood Game-Changer
Despite the success of her first breakthrough show, Longoria wasn’t content with just being in front of the camera. Desperate Housewives then became her unofficial “film school.”
As she told Quinones, she used her time on set to learn the ropes of directing and producing. “I always had an itch to be behind the camera,” she shared. And let’s be real—she didn’t just scratch that itch, she crushed it.
In 2023, she made her feature-length directorial debut with Flamin’ Hot, the Hulu hit about the Mexican-American inventor of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. “I wanted to show somebody from our community as a hero,” she said. And she’s doing just that—giving Latino stories the spotlight they deserve.
Championing Latino Talent in Every Space
Now, Eva Longoria is using her influence to make sure Latinos aren’t just in front of the camera, but also calling the shots behind the scenes.
Her production company, Hyphenate Media Group, is all about flipping the script in Hollywood. “We want to own our content. We want to own our destiny,” she said, putting her mission front and center.
The numbers don’t lie. While Latinos make up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, they account for only 5% of TV and film roles. Longoria isn’t here for that gap. “People think Hollywood’s getting it right. We are getting it so wrong,” she emphasized.
Now, For Eva Longoria, It’s Time to Redefine What Hollywood Can Be
Eva Longoria’s vision for Hollywood is bold. She and her business partner, Chris Abrego, are all about amplifying Latino voices and pushing for more diverse stories. Most recently, she executive produced and starred in the Spanish-language Apple TV+ limited series Land of Women.
Similarly, one of their upcoming projects is a bilingual docuseries about Mexico’s iconic soccer team, Club Necaxa.
For Longoria, this is just the beginning. She’s committed to creating “culture-defining content” that centers Latino stories and talent. And she’s not waiting for Hollywood to catch up—she’s making moves, so Hollywood has no choice but to follow.
