Eva hopes for better representation of Hispanics, so she supports them in business and the arts
Eva Longoria has come a long way since she starred on Desperate Housewives as Gabby Solis.
These days, she’s not only acting, she’s also producing and directing. And she’s also created programs to encourage Latina girls to pursue science and technology, and has pushed business initiatives to help Latina entrepreneurs and digital efforts to amplify Latina cultural voices.
Her goal: To make Latinas a powerful and influential force in the U.S.
‘I knew I wanted to help Latinas specifically reach their full potential,’ she told Hota Kotb on the Today Show as part of NBC’s 2023 Inspiration List. ‘That’s a big idea but just telling people you believe in their potential, it’s a big deal.
‘I’m the optimist, all my friends are all «can you turn down the optimism,» but I’m always saying «this can happen, we can do this,»‘ she added.
According to NBC News, only 7.7% of acting roles go to Latinos despite the group making up 20% of the population.
Longoria admitted she felt unprepared for the success she found on Desperate Housewives so she went back to school at age 35 to get her Master’s in Chicano Studies.
She studied at California State University at Northridge and her thesis was Success STEMS From Diversity: The Value of Latinas in STEM Careers.
‘I really needed to figure out where I’m going to have effective, sustainable change even if it’s with one family, even if it’s with one person,’ she said.
Longoria took things a step farther at age 40 — she learned Spanish, telling Kotb that ‘language is an entryway into understanding a culture in its entirety and I just had this sudden urge — I needed to speak Spanish.’
She and her husband José Bastón welcomed their son Santiago in 2018 when she was 44.
Longoria appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show on June 8 where she revealed that her son makes fun of how she speaks Spanish.
His native language is Spanish having grown up in Mexico City. ‘He’s super fluent and corrects me all the time and he does it with, like, attitude,’ she told Clarkson.
Longoria explained that her son says, ‘Oh my god, Mom!’ when she makes a mistake in Spanish and joked that her response to Santiago is to tell him, ‘easy, easy!’
