Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Eva Longoria Reflects on Turning 50 & "Desperate Housewives" Fame

Episode Date: March 23, 2025

Willie sits down with Eva Longoria to catch up on her many new projects, such as her starring role in the film "Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip." Longoria also opens up about how her life changed after “Desperate Housewives” and her new perspective on turning 50 years old.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Got a great one for you this week with Eva Longoria. First got to know Eva in 2004 when she played Gabrielle Solis on Desperate Housewives, the show that over the course of eight seasons became kind of a national sensation, a very steamy show, a spicy show, made her a household name. Since then, she's had a million. in acting projects, but also has become a really prominent producer. She's been a director in

Hollywood, philanthropist, activist. She kind of does it all. She just turned 50 years old, and that's a topic of conversation between the two of us, because I'm about to turn 50 myself. So we commiserated over that. You'll hear a little bit later on, we mix up a margarita in celebration of her birthday. She's really talented behind the bar. And in the kitchen, which brings us to one of her projects right now. It's called Eva Longoria searching for Spain. It's that CNN series started by Stanley Tucci in Italy. And in her case, she's going to Spain to the roots, the foundation of her Mexican-American heritage where her family was 400 years ago, experiencing the culture and the food and the people,

just as she did was searching for Mexico, a series a couple of years ago she did on CNN as well. So she's got that going on. She's got a new Disney. Disney Plus movie called Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad road trip. It's a road trip movie based on the famous books. Just so much that she has in the hopper right now and frankly always has in the hopper. She does TV. She does movies. She does her Eva Longoria Foundation is working to support people after the wildfires.

She's just one of those forces of nature that you respect and admire and she's so talented as an actress and a producer, but also just like a cool. Fun person, smart person to hang out with. Grew up on a working ranch, a small ranch outside of Corpus Christi, Texas. You'll hear her talk about that and the improbable road from that place to the heights of Hollywood. How she did it, how she got there. A lot to talk about right now with Eva Longoria on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Cheers again. You make a really good margarita.

Just for the record, this is our second margarita. In case things go sideways. Full disclosure. Yeah. Number two. You're good at it, though. Like you said, bartending may be hidden talent.

Yeah. Yeah, I think it is. I should have been a mixologist. There's still time for you. You know what? There's still time for you. Second career. Happy birthday.

Thank you. We are in the same boat. Yeah, you're going to be 50. Yeah, in about a month. It's a milestone. It is. How do you feel? Great.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's for me, it's just a number. And I've always looked forward to being older. Like, when I was 15, I was like, I can't wait to be 21. And then when I was 20, I was like, I can't wait for my 30th birthday.

And then when I was 30, I was like, 40s are going to be amazing. Like, I really always am like glasses half full. Yeah. Can't wait. And 50s just like that. I was like, oh, my gosh, I feel like life's going to begin. Yeah. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I have that. I agree. I feel that way too. Yeah. Everyone's like, oh, how are you doing? I'm like, you know what?

It's a good time to stop. Try being a woman. Everybody's like, are you okay? And I'm like, I'm fine. I don't mind aging. I want to age well. And I think with like technology and modern medicine, we're going to live longer.

So it's about how many of those years will I be healthy and agile and mobile. And like I want to still hike up a trail. And I want to run around my son. And I want to, you know, work out. And I want to travel. And when I see, you know, my mom's 80 now. And she's like a traveler. Everywhere I go, she goes.

And this last trip was, you know, a little like, oh, maybe she's not going to be able to walk as far. Oh, we can't really go there. And when I see that, I go, God, I want to be 100 and still, you know, hiking up a mountain. Yeah. So that's my thing is like, how do I age well? Right. Yeah. And that's the physical part.

But when you take stock of your life too, what a great moment to say, how am I doing? This is like, this is it. Yes. And you have to feel pretty good about how you're doing, don't you? Yeah. I mean, I would think you would want to feel good about your feeling. But yeah, it's such a, you have to do like an emotional inventory of like everything I've done has been amazing. But like, what do I want the next 50 years to look like?

Yeah. And for me, I've said, like, I am of the philosophy of say yes. Say yes to that opportunity. Say yes to that trip. Yes, you know, yes to those people you want to work with. Yes to that movie. And that's really gotten me to where I am. but I think the second half of my life will be about saying no

and just really curating my experiences, curating my people, and making those moments more special. Because then you go, you know, you see all these things on Instagram, it's like, when you're 50, you only have maybe 30 more Christmases. Yeah. 40 more sunrises. And you're like, what?

And when you filter down the, really the truth of time, it's, you're going to want to make each one of those things feel. special. Yeah. Yeah. Well, from where I'm sitting, you're doing great at 50. Thank you. So on everything, including all the projects you have in front of you, both on screen and off. We talked about the tequila. You've got this really fun family movie out for Disney Plus. Um, Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Road trip. Well, that's the book. Yeah. And then we get to road trip, which is the film. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So tell me about the movie and what drew you to it. You know, I am a sucker for Disney films. I love Disney films. I am cut of the... I was raised on, like, the movie of the week on ABC when I had three channels. That's how old we are. We used to have three channels on a TV with aluminum foil. Yeah, we did. But yeah, and so I love the idea of doing a movie that my son can watch and that I can watch with him. We were, he's, he's now six and so he's, like, graduated out of animation a bit. He feels like that's for babies. So he wants to watch a...

real movie. Right. And there's not a lot of those. Like I did Dora the Explorer, so he liked that. And then there's like all these other parent trap he just got into the Lindsay, the original one. Freaky Friday,

the original one. And so I was like, this is so fun because it's a family adventure movie. It's based on these books of this kid, Alexander, who has a lot of bad days, by the way. There's like 90 books.

A lot of books. Yeah. Yeah, like 50 years worth of books. Yeah, a lot of movies to be made about this bad day. And then Marvin Lehman is. who directed it, he created Hentified on Netflix with Linda Chavez, who Linda Chavez wrote Flaming Hot, which was my feature film debut that I directed. And so it was all like part of the family and Jesse Garcia plays my husband who starred in Flaming Hot that I directed. And so to be

able to work with him. And then Paulina Chavez plays my daughter in the movie. I directed her five years ago in her first big show for Netflix. And she was like 17. And I said, that kid. is going to be a big star. This girl, she's on Landman right now. I mean, she's phenomenal. She's so kind, and she's a Texan like me. And so it was kind of a no-brainer. I was just like, these are all the peeps I want to be with.

Again, it's about if I'm going to go and do something, I want to do it with this types of people, and I want to really enjoy this experience. And so that was an easy yes. That feels like the 50 philosophy, right? So 50, I already applied it. A lot of established actors and actresses that I talked to kind of say the same thing, which is, it's been a climb, I've done a lot, I've worked really

hard to get where I am. Now you have the luxury in some ways of saying, is this something I want to be a part of? I mean, it's for sure a privilege to say no. Right? Like, no, I don't need to do that. And so if I don't need to do it, if I don't want to do it, then you land at an easy no. But when it's a project like this, you know, you land at a very easy yes. And we had so much fun making it. And it's really a fun road trip movie, but with the family. And it just happens to be a Latino family. So that representation also was something I was really proud of, because a lot of times when we are on TV and film as Latinos, it's about our trauma and it's about our struggle, our identity. We're so confused about our identity. And I don't walk through the world that way.

So to be able to be in a movie that lives in joy and lives in family and lives thematically. in a different space than we normally see, I was like, that's what I want to do. Sign me up. I feel like it's so nice these days to have a movie that you can just sit down with, whether it's your son or anybody in their family. And there's no, you don't have to go, oh, right?

It's like you can just put it on. Yeah. It's funny, it's fun, but it's family and its heart at its core. Exactly. Which feels rare these days, unfortunately. It feels really rare. Like I said, my son has discovered parent trap, the sandlot, Freaky Friday.

I love that. And these were all made in the 80s, 70s, 70s, 80s? So I feel like, you know, I was like, what happened to those movies? Goonies. This is very much like Goonies. Yes, right. Another 80s classic. And my son loves these.

It's kind of a caper, too. You're trying to figure out what's going to happen. And the curse. Yeah. We have a curse in our movie. There's a curse. You're right. Jack.

When I Jack. When I Jack. This statue, Jack. Yeah. Congrats. It's really fun. Thank you. Thank you.

I love it. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Eva Longoria right after the break. Welcome back now more of my conversation with Eva Longoria. I also love, you were nice enough to share some episodes of searching for Spain. Did you see it? Wow. Nobody has seen it.

Wow. I caught the first episode. Was the first episode Madrid? No. Galicia? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Wow.

It's spectacular. I know. When we did searching for Mexico, I was like, well, first of all, when I saw searching for Italy and Stanley really created this format, I was like, you know, you wanted to go to Italy. And then I had pitched Mexico and they were like, great because they wanted to do the spin-off. And we finished it and it was stunning. Like the amount of people that came up to me and did my Mexico tour or did the taco tour in Mexico City or did, you know, went to Oaxaca because of the show. Right. I was like, oh, yeah.

Now Spain, it's like, I thought we couldn't top. Mexico and Spain is not only stunning, but like cold, very gastronomically diverse. So it's just, it was so fun. Look, I reverse engineer things I want to do. I was like, I want to eat and drink my way through the world. I'm going to get a show that pays me to do that. She's good. Life hack. Not everyone can pull that off. You know what? You were able to do it. Yeah. I was like, now I want to do Spain. Now next I'm going to do, yeah, I just pick countries I want to eat and drink my way And the cool thing about it is, is that it exposes to the audience those cultures that most people are never going to see or maybe, hopefully, if they're lucky enough, they can go plan one of those trips. Well, a big reason I did Mexico was because we're at a time where it's a very villainized country.

Yes. And I wanted the people who go, Taco Tuesday, at the same time or screaming, build that wall to make the correlation. You know, you, you know, that's, it's a beautiful country with amazing human beings. beings. And I wanted to help repair that relationship. And it did. A lot of people came out of searching for Mexico going, I had no idea how diverse, stunning, beautiful, not just gastronomically, but the people. Because when you're talking about the food of a culture, you're talking about its people. Yeah. And so how can something so beautiful come out of something so villainized? That's a really good way to look at it. And it's also, you know, that's almost the medicine,

right? That's inside the... Yeah, I'm going to hook you in with tequila. And I'm going to convince you, we are amazing people. Yeah, no. And it's shot so beautifully, too. Yeah, it's very cinematic. What is it like for you who's done almost everything you can do in front of a camera to do something like this, which is different? You know, well, you're a TV personality, and I'm an actor. So when I have to be myself, it's very hard.

Like, I'm just like, yeah, what do I say? Do you have a script? What should I say in this moment? And so Mexico was like a little... dipping my toe on the water of being just me and being genuinely interested in the conversations I was having. And I really, like, meditated before I went down to Mexico and I said, I really want to be present in every scene. I don't want to be overprepped. I really want to kind of discover the questions on my own that are going to be interesting of this Mayan woman who speaks no

Spanish and no English. And she's teaching me how to make it to Mali. Like, I would like to ask my own questions. So having like an authentic approach to this new job and then Spain was even easier. Although Spain Spanish was different. So I was worried about my Spanish, but it went so well. And really, I think navigating, I think being curious is how I led in, and that really led me to that authentic space of what you're going to see on the show, which is I'm asking all the questions that all the viewers at home were asking, like, how do that you're going to

they do that? What is that? Why do they do it that way? And it comes across that way. Yeah. It's real and that you are curious. And one of the cool things about this new series that Spain is you sort of tie it right off the top to your ancestry, which is my family was here 400 years ago and now I'm standing here. Was that in the very spot? Yeah, right there. In the house. Yeah. In the Longoria town. And what did that feel like? That'd be emotional. Amazing. You know, I had been there before, but to go back with the show and the crew was really fun. But I, growing up in Texas as a Mexican-American, I'm like, we're Mexican.

And especially, like, in Texas, where I grew up in South Texas, everybody's Mexican. But when I went to Mexico, they were like, oh, you're American. And I'd be like, no, no, I'm one of you guys. And they were like, nope, no, you're definitely American. I didn't speak Spanish, you know. I didn't eat corn tortillas. I eat flour turdias.

huge cultural differences. And so, and then my dad's saying, well, you know, we're of Spanish descent. I'm like, we're not of Spanish descent. So not feeling American enough, not feeling Mexican enough. And then my dad always saying we were from Spain. And so really, you know, navigating the genealogy back to Spain and seeing exactly where my 11-year-old 13th great-grandfather, you know, great, great, great, great, great, great-grandfather, left Asturias, got on a boat to.

three months by himself, because you're not 11 years old, going on a boat to New Spain, landing in New Spain, and then that's where our family story and history begins, and then getting up to Texas, which was Spain, and then Mexico, and then Republic of Texas, and then America, United States of America. So, you know, my family was under five different flags without ever moving. You know, we never crossed a border. The border crossed us. And so that, navigating that identity and really appreciating all those things. I love that. I love being American. I'm a patriotic American. I am proud of my Mexican culture and heritage, and I love that I'm of Spanish descent. Like, I love it all, you know, and I think when you're a mutt like that,

you get the best of everything. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's why I think it works so well, is because it's really grounded in something. It doesn't feel like you're, it's not performative. It's like, this is real. This is where it began for me. Most people, if they visited Spain, have been to Barcelona and Madrid. What's really cool is you take them to these different areas. Oh my gosh. Not only that, you know, during the dictatorship of Franco, he erased all regional identities. He wanted one Spain under one flag and one rule.

And all of these little communities, Catalonia, you know, has the language Catalan in the Basque country. They have Elkera language. In Galicia, they have Gallic language. They had all different languages and very different gastronomy. and he forbid it. And he kind of just homogenized the country into being one food culture, one language.

And when he fell in 1975, these cultures came back with like a vengeance of being seen again. And so to be able to visit those regions that is not Madrid and not Barcelona, which are too, by the way, stunning, was beautiful to really go like, so what happened to, you know, this was a dish that we cooked in secret, you know,

This is called, you know, whatever, pan tomato, tomats, you know, which is Catalan. And all of those, like, I could have been a historian if I wasn't a bartender. Because I love the history of all of it. I was like, this is so fascinating. And then Andalusia in the South, which is, you know, controlled by the Moors, Spain in general, controlled by the Moors for 800 years, but the influence is really felt in the South. So, you know, everything is Al-Andalus and very, very, very. Arabic influence in the food.

Yeah, that's why the food is obviously the center of it all, but I love the history and the geography and all those parts of it. You, in addition to being a great bartender, you cook a lot. I do. Like, that's your, you're in the kitchen if you're home. Yeah. My happy place. That's your happy place.

Yeah. So this felt like a natural fit for you, I'm sure. Oh, a thousand percent. Oh, yeah, yeah. And to get in there with these chefs, I get, we got to meet with like Michigan star chefs and then the woman who's been cooking these, you know, things on the corner. that sells them every Sunday. You know, we really high-brow, low-brow, and everything in between.

And it's my favorite thing to learn tips and tricks of like, I never knew that. I didn't know that's what you do. And bringing it back into my kitchen. But cooking is my tricks, right? Yeah, great tricks. Cooking is definitely my happy place. So talking about your heritage and your roots, going back to growing up on the ranch outside of Corpus Christi, youngest of four-girl.

Yes, my poor dad. What was that childhood like for you? Was it a rural experience? Yeah. Was it joyful? What do you remember about it? All of it. It was so free.

You know, I don't, I still hate wearing shoes, as these ladies can tell. I mean, barefoot all the time, feed on the grass. We grew up with chickens and we had to go get the eggs in the morning. We had to milk the cow for the coffee, milk that was going to go in the coffee. And on our cereal, we had pigs and cows, I mean, everything. And it was so, and we had an insane farm. I mean, planted everything. My dad planted everything.

My dad has such a green thumb. And we were never allowed to eat out. We never ate at a restaurant, fast food, unless it was like graduation. Maybe, not Easter. Easter we would eat at home. But we couldn't eat out. He's like, the land will give us everything we have. And so if it was squash season, we had squash for three months.

If it was watermelon season, we had watermelon for three months. And I was like, I hate squash. I hate water. Because we ate seasonally. We ate from the ground. I remember grabbing a carrot from the ground and running and getting on a school bus. You're just like, yeah. And I'm just like cleaning the carrot with the dirt and then eating it on the butt.

Like it was, that's how I grew up. And I really think every child should have that experience because I wish, you know, Santi and I lived on a race. mansion. He has a great appreciation for nature and animals, but like in that sense, it's not like nothing else. But my mom, she would get paid once a month, and on payday, she would buy us a Domino's pizza. And we would eat it, and we would have to hide the pizza box in my neighbor's trash can if my dad had found out. So he didn't know about it. No, he didn't know about Domino's pizza on the last Friday of the month. That was a little treat for the ladies.

That was my mom. My mom was like, guys, we can eat out. So yeah, I didn't, I didn't grow up with like all of that, you know, fast food and eating out. And so for me, even to this day, it is a privilege to eat in a restaurant. I'm just like, wow. Yeah. Look at this. They brought water. And they'll bring more.

Yeah. Yeah, endless, endless chips and salsa. Well, just listening to that childhood, it seems like Hollywood could not possibly be farther away. Like, so was that when you're young? Are you even thinking about that? No. Performing? Are you even playing?

Nothing. Nothing like that. I was performative in my family because I was the ugly duckling. And yep, nope. Documentation is available if you need it. My three sisters look alike. They're all blonde. Oh, yeah, my sister has hazel eyes.

They're all very light-skinned. And then I was born with black hair, dark skin, and dark eyes. And they used to tell me I was adopted, and they used to tell me, you know, They found me on the side of the road. My sisters were very mean. And so I knew I wasn't the pretty one. And I was like, okay, I'm not the pretty one. So I'm going to be the funny one.

I'm going to be the smart one. I remember thinking that. I remember saying that to myself. Okay, if I'm not the pretty one, then I'll be the smart one. And really just shifting my whole personality. So it wasn't until college that I had to enter a beauty pageant, which was a scholarship pageant because I was running out of money in my senior year of college. I was on a Pell Grant, it got taken away, financial aid was squeezed, and I didn't have enough money to finish my senior year.

And my girlfriend goes, you should enter the scholarship pageant. And I was like, what is that? I was 21. And I look at it, and if I had got fourth place, I just could get fourth place, it would cover books. And I said, oh, my God, I'm going to try. I'm going to try. Never been a page in my life. I went home, and I go, Mom, I need a gown.

And she goes, what's that? we've never heard this word gown before and I said I'm going to be in this pageant she goes oh honey do you think that's a good idea like she was like you're not going to win you're just going to be hard-robin and I was like mom I'm not in it to win it I'm just in it to I hope I get you know

third or fourth place so cut to I win it and I get the full scholarship tuition board everything and then I got to finish my senior year and because of that pageant I had to go to the next pageant. And I was like, oh, no, no, no, I don't want to keep going.

I just wanted to do this one. They're like, right. So now that you're Miss, whatever, you have to go to the next. And I was like, oh, my God. So then I did, you know, Miss Corpus Christi and won. And in that prize package was a trip to Hollywood. And I thought I had just graduated college with my bachelor's degree. And I thought, oh, that would be a fun vacation in between my bachelor's and my master's.

I was already signed up to get my master's. I was leaving to college, you know, to get my master's. And there's still no performance to this point? Zero. Wow. Nor did I have idols. I didn't go like, oh, look at Salma Hayek or look at my role models in life. When my mom, my sisters, like that, I was like, oh, these are the women I want to be.

They're all around me. And I land in Hollywood and I don't know what happened. I just was like, I think I'm going to be an actor. This looks fun. Seems easy. Yeah, no And it wasn't But yeah

I went for a week I actually loved the weather And it was just beautiful You know This was 1998 And I said I think I'm gonna be an actor And it was a time of like

Ricky Martin's living Lovita Loka And like there was a bit of a Latin explosion J-Lodos And they were like You'll do so well here And I go okay Great

I'll do it What is it? What do you have to do? You know, and I really approached it from a business standpoint of like, so how does it work? You have to have a, how do I, you know, you have to have an agent and manager. How do you get an agent manager? Well, you have to, you know, do this. Well, how do I do that?

And like, well, you've got to have experience. Well, how do I get experience? Well, you got to do things for free. Well, how do I, what do I find those jobs? Like, I really was like, and I got a job while doing that while trying to be an actor. And so really touching every rung of the ladder as a fresh, naive person as opposed to going with this idea of like what Hollywood was, I think really benefited me. Ignorance was total bliss being there because I just approached it with like, so tell me everything. And there's no recipe

for success either. You could do exactly what I did and not have the same result. But I just figured it out. And then here we are drinking margaritas in the morning. All I'm thinking about as you describe this experience is what everyone back on the ranch is thinking. Do they say you're crazy? Yeah. I remember, no, my mom didn't say it's crazy. She was, she was happy. The main thing she wanted me to get my bachelor's degree, because everybody in my family has a master's degree. And so I'm, believe me, I'm the disappointment of my family. And I said, Mom, you know, I'm going to be an actor. She goes, okay, well, you know, you can get a job anywhere now. You have your degree. You have your education. Education was so important to my parents.

So they thought, as long as you have your education, you can get a job anywhere. But they didn't think much about the acting. They just thought, okay, she's going to California to work. And I did work. I worked. I worked. for many years as a headhunter and had a job job, a nine to five. And so they were happy that I was fine, like as long as she's fine. And then, you know, got one line. I was an extra for two years. And then I got one line and then I got three lines and then I got five lines.

And then I got a co-star and then I got a guest star. And then so by the time I got Desperate Outstrives, I remember when it aired. And I was like, Mom, you got to watch. It's going to be on Sunday night on ABC. It's called Desperate House. She's like, well, that's a weird title. And I was like, I know, but mom, just watch it. She watches it and she calls me afterwards.

She goes, honey, you were in it a lot. I go, yeah, mom, I'm one of the stars. And she goes, are you going to be on next week? Mom, I'm going to be on every week. Every Sunday, I am going to be on this show. And she became famous in our town. And, you know, she's like, the mailman knows who you are. She was so, like, what is happening?

And she would give my phone number out. to everybody. Oh, no. Yes. The mailman's daughter wants to be an actress. Here, call my daughter. You know, the dentist, you know, has somebody that has a script. Call my daughter. I'm like, Mom, you've got to stop giving out my phone number. So it took a minute. It was a big adjustment for everybody around me. Yeah. But not me. And I was just like, okay. And anybody who's known me for 30 years, I'll tell you, I'm the exact same person I was then and I am now. I mean, I have a nicer house. I have a lot of shoes. But other than that, you know, I don't know who said it. Is it Madonna or Cher? She was like, when she became famous, she didn't change. Everyone else around her changed. They didn't change, but I'm saying they were affected more like they had to do, they had to adjust.

You know, my mom was like, okay, we've got to be more private. My sisters were like, okay, this is happening. But my friends were like, oh my God, we get to get restaurant reservations. But other than that, it was a really fun ride. Because you had a very memorable role on The Young and the Restless. So you had an audience there. Yeah. But Desperate Housewives was something else.

Completely just exploded when it started that year. It had to feel like something, though, right? Going and all of a sudden, people goes, there she is. There she is. Are people taking your picture interested in your life and all that kind of stuff? Had to be some adjustment. Yeah. And back then it was, I don't know what's worse.

Now or back then because back then there was no Twitter, Facebook, no iPhone. No cameras on a phone. Right. I mean, you had a Blackberry that took a... very grainy photo. But there was none of this. So because there was none of that, there was so much paparazzi and there was a lot of stalking.

I remember it was a problem in L.A. at a time because Lindsay Lohan got crashed into by one, you know, somebody had died on a car chase. Princess Diana happened at that moment, too. Like, it was a problem. There was like this stalkiness of like, get the photo, get the photo, because it wasn't accessible. Nobody was having access to our lives. So that, that, I remember living through that and in Housewives is like kind of 2004 was, it was at the height of that.

Yeah. And then 2007, the iPhone comes out and Twitter starts around that time too. So we were able to give you access to parts of our life that we wanted to, right? And so that hunger for those photos or the hunger for that story kind of, lessened, but now our privacy is, you know, is, it's not there anymore because now everybody, everybody's a journalist. Yes, yes, they are. You know, everybody's a gossip columnist.

You don't need the magazines anymore because there's, you know, everybody's reporting on our life because they can take a picture of you in the restaurant or anywhere. So I don't know what was better. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I know I'm sort of glad we grew up and made mistakes in the era before the iPhone. You know what I mean? I was like, oh, God, if I was young now, I don't know how these young kids are navigating life and pressure.

I have a teenage daughter. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's real. It's real. And that FOMO or, you know, beauty standards, why do they have that? And I don't. I also think, you know, it's a big reason why we have, we're feeling all of the inequality in our country is because everybody's only posting the best of their life on social. media and there's a lot of people like why do they have that and I don't obviously the system's

broken obviously the system's somehow failing just me and it's like no no I'm sure it's failing them too they're just posting right the highlight of that week or whatever and by the way that person was paid by some something to post that you know what I mean yeah but even that why are you paid and I'm not you know that inequality feeling is not doesn't feel good doesn't sit well with you I'm just saying it's it's brought more to in your face as opposed to before when we kind of happily lived with like, isn't everybody on my block living? We all live the same.

We all live on this block. Right, right. Yeah, it's hard. I mean, my, the teenagers now with Snapchat, they know where they all are at all times. They have a map that shows, oh, why are they at that house? I'm not there. Why is he there?

It's like, it's just, they're tracking each other. I just can't imagine. I can't imagine having a little boy. Yeah. It's coming. No, it's here. Yeah. He's a tech genius.

I did the no screen time before, two years old. And he, you know, it's a chip that they now are born with. Exactly. And I listened to a lot of parenting podcast, and there was, you know, this one child psychology expert. And she's like, you can't prevent technology from infiltrating their lives because that is our world now. But you can decide if they're prepared for it and what to give them access to. But, like, you can't cut them off. That time is over.

It is. It's unrealistic. So we have to prepare them for that technology. Right. The maturity that you need to know, likes don't mean anything, you know. That is an edited photo. You know, that's not real. I know.

That's AI. All of it. And news stories, too. Oh, my God. I tell my kids, if it sounds crazy, it probably is. Go check it on a different source, a source you've heard of. Because I hear things that. By the way, I've fallen victim to that.

You know, we're all in our own bubble. Of course. I reposted, I'm in the LA fires. Yeah. When the Mexican government sent firefighters to help, I posted a video. I was like, yay, how great. And it was a video from a different fire. But they did, Mexico did send firefighters.

It's just the video I posted was from a different year. Right. And I go, so I don't like to, you know, you have to research and really think about it. And you were just trying to highlight good work by somebody. Yeah. You know, there's a thing to far. Yeah. And it wasn't, again, thank God it wasn't like a scandal. People just, like, corrected me.

Like, hey, just so you know, that's not from right now. That's from before. I know. It's tough out here. I was like, oh, dude, but I hate that. And I was like, oh, I should have looked it up. Stick around for more of my conversation with Eva Longoria right after a quick break. Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Eva Longoria. I'm as impressed by everything you've done off screen as you have on, which is directing

producing, philanthropy, your foundation, all these things. So when did you decide, okay, I do want to be director? We talked about Flaming Hot. Or I do want to produce things for other people. And I don't necessarily have to be on the screen for all that. I actually, when I moved to Hollywood, I feel like I was always a producer-director that fell into acting. And I remember some of my first jobs, I was a PA, I was an AD.

I was a talent booker for the improv comedy club. They were like, if you watch all these VHS tapes, tell us who you like, and then we're going to book them. And I was like, okay, so I did casting for this Latin night at the improv. I did. And that experience I really liked. And then once I fell into acting, I would see people behind the monitors, and I go, what are those people doing?

And they're like, oh, that's the producer, that's the director. And it felt like they were calling all the shots. I felt like, I feel like they have more power than me in this, on this side. And I felt like I was always a producer-director before an actor. And so to get back to that feeling and wanting to create my own opportunities,

I always feel like I have to be in control. And I didn't like, like, well, I wonder what I'm going to get next. Like, I wanted to create the next role for myself. And for other talent that I thought, God, why don't you have a show? You're so talented. Why don't you have a movie?

Oh, my gosh. And I felt like we have a lot of stories to tell. And that's really what drove me to create my production company, which is now my media company. And that's probably the work I'm most passionate about, is like building these other companies to scale, to grow, and to be able to tell the stories from a different point of view. Yeah, and what's cool is with your success,

you can sort of reach down and lift people up, right? Other women, Latina women, people you see promising who may not have the keys to unlock the doors in Hollywood that you can help them through. Some people have the talent and not the access. And, you know, or the infrastructure of opportunity, right? Like, they have talent, but, like, how do I get over there? Because if I'm over there, I know how to do that.

I just, I don't know, I don't see the bridge. I don't see the road. I don't see the street. And so really building that infrastructure for them to get their easier is really exciting to me. You're giving them the bridge. You mentioned Flaming Hot. It was so, what a great film. It was good.

It's an amazing story. first of all. When people heard the true story, they're like, what? Yeah. How much fun was that? And how gratifying that it was so well received

and won all the awards it won? It is so gratifying when you do something because you really feel like people could benefit from this story. They could learn a lot from his journey. It's American rags to riches story 101. Like it's a beautiful story. And then when it's well received with that intention,

I was like, oh, God, this is amazing. We had the screening at the White House, and that was amazing for Richard to, you know, witness that and go, I can't believe that. You know, Flaming Hot Cheetos is a multi-billion dollar brand. It's gone beyond snack. It's like there's ice cream, drink, clothing, makeup, you know. Is there makeup? Yeah. Flaming Hot palette.

Wow. And it's flaming hot sushi. Come on. Really? Hot ice cream. Wow. Flaming Hot, Mountain Dew, Flaming Hot, I mean, all of it. It's really, and it's, for us, it's just this, you know, for Latinos, it's so in our zeitgeist of pop culture.

Like, that brand does not belong to Frito Le, it belongs to the Hispanic culture. That's our brand. You did a great job telling that story. And finally, I'll let you go. I know you have a busy day, but the Eva Longoria Foundation and the work you've done for a long time, but most recently with the wildfires. Yeah. How nice to be in a position to be able to help in the way you have.

Yeah. We donated a million dollars to recovery to second responders because the first responders, once they're done, which God bless them, they did such an amazing job for months, weeks. Weeks. Yeah, we probably extended past a month. Right? Yeah, I can't remember. It felt like months.

Yeah. But, you know, God bless the first responders who really, you know, put their lives in line to put these fires out. Once they're gone, like, who's going to rebuild these communities? Who's going to rebuild these homes physically, emotionally? And so donating to a lot of different organizations that are really supporting these second responders, the people that will go in and rebuild. And so to be in that position, obviously was great. I'm not a, I'm not a, my foundation is not about natural disasters, but this was so close to home that I was like, we have to do something.

I was lucky enough to, to be gifted the Jeff Beasles and Lauren Sanchez Courage and Civility Award, and it was $50 million. Um, to expand and scale the work of the Evil and Gloria Foundation, which is about women reaching their full potential through educational programs, entrepreneurial, entrepreneurship programs, cultural programs, civic participation programs. Like, I really think the key to unlocking our country's potential is through women. You know, if you help a woman, she helps her family. If she helps her family, it improves communities and so on and so on. And so being able to have a bigger impact in creating that sustainable change for all of these women is a gift and a passion of mine. And it's interesting how I think everybody, everybody wants to do good.

Everybody wants to, and they don't know how, or they don't know, you know, I want to donate. Where do I donate? I want to donate my time. Where do I volunteer? And so really the Belngoia Foundation being a place where, you know,

we can connect the dots is important. Speaking of incredible women, I'm listening to you tell this story now start to finish. Your little girl pulling a carrot out of the ground on the way to the bus. And now you're talking about having this foundation where you can help all these other people.

Do you ever stop and go, I can't believe how far I've come? Yes and no. And I'm not arrogant and I don't want to sound arrogant. But I, because of the family I grew up in, every woman in my family is successful, independent, smart, educated. So the woman I wanted to be, I could see all around me. So I knew I would be successful. I didn't know what I was going to do. I don't know if I was going to be a dentist.

I don't know if I was going to be a lawyer. I don't know if I was going to be a seamstress. But I knew I'd be successful because I knew the women and my family were not going to let me fail. And they showed me, you will be this. And hearing the word college, as early as I can remember, hearing the word university, hearing the word, there's a lot of families that they don't hear that word until they're senior in college. And they're like, oh, what's that? And you're like, no, no, you've got to, you have to hear this word and concept and idea way before that to track. And so, yeah, part of me goes, of course I'm here.

you know in this manner I don't know how to in this way probably not I didn't think I'd be famous but I knew I'd be successful because I was resourceful I was going to be smart

I was going to figure out a way to do what I needed to do and reach the goals that I had and so I don't know I was I was born into a family that really made me into this person who is here

drinking tequila with you. You've done it. Congratulations on all your success. Thanks so much. And on your new projects. Thanks so much. You know, Eva says she probably missed her calling as a bartender. And I can attest she's very good back there.

She and I mixed up using her own tequila brand called Casa del Sol, a strawberry mint margarita, all as part of this rolling celebration of her 50th birthday and mine. So, Eva, what kind of margarita we're making today? Today we're going to make a strawberry mint margarita with, of course, the best tequila in the world, Casa del Sol. Do you like margaritas? I do like a margarita. Okay, because I was about to not like you if I said no. I was about to judge you.

I usually like, you know, just a classic margarita, but I'm open to the twist. No, no, me too. And by the way, people complicate margaritas. I agree. I miss my calling. I was a bartender in my past life. But as I've learned, margarita is agave, lime, and tequila. That's all it is.

Yeah, right. And if you want a strawberry margarita, you muddle up strawberry, agave lime, tequila. If you want a mint margarita, you put mint, you know, it's always agave lime. There's like a basic recipe. That's the foundation. That's the foundation. Almost like a vinaigrette. So I'm going to put some here.

I'm going to put you to work. You muddle that because you have more. You know what's funny? I was trying to do, I was doing a show like this in, in Spanish, and I didn't know what the word muddle was in Spanish. I was like, you know, you muddle. I was like, oh, what's that word? Did you ever figure it out? I don't know it. I can't help you.

Macha-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a. Okay, we're little muddled here. Are you muddled good and well, so I'm going to put some agave? You only want a little, you don't want it. I don't like it too sweet, but I don't like it, like, tart either. Fresh lime juice, yeah? I'm going to, I don't believe him. Hold on.

You just taste this. Oh. See, this is, I like it. Like, woman of high taste, making sure it's fresh. Oh. Yeah. So you're going to, you squeeze these limes. Oh, we have a squeezer.

No, with your hand. Okay. But we do have a squeezer. Hold on. I was just kidding. I was kidding. No, these look dry, so you might need the... They look a little small.

A little small for our operation. Right? Let me get the ice. Okay. Do you like a spicy margarita? Sure. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, let's do it.

No, because I put tahin on the rim. I like that, actually. You do? I'm new to the tahine, but once I discovered it, I was into it. You know what? When I was shooting a Loyal commercial one day, Beyonce was with the brand at the time, and I was eating my fruit and cucumber, things with tahin.

And we were shooting together, and she goes, what is that? And I go, Tahin, you've never had tahin on fruit? And she goes, no. And so I introduced her to it. And then, like, years later, I see her at, like, the Golden Globe. She goes, tahine has changed my life. Oh, really? Yeah.

She loved it. I don't have a lot of Beyonce stories like that. I have a Beyonce story. That's a good Beyonce story. So we're going to do. Everything is better with Casabille soul. Everything's better with tequila. Wow, that's a nice, hearty pour.

Well, there's two of us. Oh, we need ice. Okay. I forgot. I just school. And that's good. Yeah, because we're just going to. You're going to shake?

Yes. You should. So you know what you're doing. I do. Clearly. Yeah, I do. One time I threw my shoulder out doing this. Really?

Wow. All right. Yes. All right. So what we can do, we can do a dirty pour because I like to see the mint and the strawberry and all of that in the things. Did we do the mint? We put the mint. We did.

Great, great, great, great. Yeah. So let's do it. Yeah, pour it in there. I should have a strainer when I do. No, no, that's called a dirty pour. Okay, okay. Yeah, you go.

See, I want that. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. Oh, that's a little dirty. That's super dirty. A little too dirty. Let me help you.

There we go. There is. I like it when you can get all the good stuff and it really changes the color. That's beautiful. Isn't it beautiful? It really is pretty. Look at that. Hold on. Let me make it more beautiful. Okay. All right. This is yours. Let me see. You know what? I should have tasted first. I'm gonna, I'll judge you right now. It's nice. That's so nice. It's so refreshing. It's really good. Hold on. So much I.

Right? Right. Oh, it's really nice. Cheers, Eva. Cheers. Oh, it's not just for TV. It's really good. Nice. So did I convince you to have a something, something in your margarita? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I like? I like cucumber mint in the summer. That's good too. Yeah. Right? It'll be a little. And the half tahin is nice because you can hit it on the sip when you want it, back off if you need to. You know what? It's great. Smart. That's a good. That's a good system. Usually I like, I usually do all tahin all over and then I only drink half of it and all the tahin's gone because I lick it all off.

Right. And then I do a new glass and I put more tahin. I like a spicy. I like a spicy. Margargarated with jalapeno and. Oh, so you're all in, like on the spice, on the spice. I'm all in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. How much fun is it to be a part of the tequila brand? So great. It's so great. I was, I'm a wine girl. I love wine. And COVID happened. And COVID drove me to cocktails because I was like, I cannot drink this much wine every day. And so I started experimenting and and doing cocktails, and they were just so fun and different. And then, you know, they approached me. They were looking for, you know, somebody who liked the brand story, and it's a great brand story. We have a female master distiller,

which is still really rare in the region. And, you know, we really differentiate with the taste profile because we age in cognac barrels where most tequila age in American whiskey barrels. So we have French Oval. We have like the smooths finish. Should we do shots? We should do shots.

No, I'm just kidding. I was, by the way, I was up for it. You were about to say yes. If you left that much more pause. I know, but I didn't. Because I don't want to do. I'm still drunk from my birthday. That's true.

So I... This is a rolling celebration for you. Yes, this is the hair of the dog for me right now. Okay? I'm still, like, tequila's coming out of my pores. So I was hoping you would not. I knew you were going to say yes to the shots. But I'm saying, if you take a shot of our tequila,

you go, oh, yeah, you can act. There's hints of that con. And it's so smooth. Yeah. It's cool to be involved too, right? To like the process of the whole thing and how it's made. I love building things, whether it's a brand, whether I'm cooking, whether it's just like being creative.

And tequila's an art. It's like really one of the oldest traditions in Mexico. It's the greatest, you know, ambassador of the country. And for me, to be able to have my hands in almost every aspect from the bottle, you know, these, these are vegan necks. and vegan leather. Sorry, this is a vegan leatherneck, and there's so many women in Mexico that can't leave the house to work. And so they're not financially independent.

And so we get to send the material over to their house. They cut it, they stamp it, they sew it, and they bring back their work, and we can compensate them for their work without them ever leaving the house. And so, you know, there's a lot of things. Whenever the DNA, the company is founded by a woman, there's a lot of things we do different. That's a really nice touch and a beautiful bottle, too. Isn't it great? memorable, you know?

It's a perfume. Yeah. Thank you. Cheers. Cheers. My big thanks again to Eva for a great conversation and for that margarita. You can stream Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad road trip on Disney Plus beginning March 28th. And Eva Longoria searching for Spain.

They views on CNN on April 27. My big thanks to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear my conversations with our guests. every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in, of course, to Sunday today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down Pire.