In a recent interview, Eva Longoria spoke with People Magazine at an Elle Women in Hollywood event. The Desperate Housewives alum opened up about how Jennifer Lopez inspired her at the beginning of her career. She spoke about the On The Floor singer’s portrayal of Selena Quintanilla-Perez in the 1997 movie Selena. Longoria, at the time, was an extra in the movie Selena, and she was blown away by Lopez’s performance.
Eva Longoria opens up about being inspired and blown away by Jennifer Lopez
Recollecting the impact that Jennifer Lopez had on her, Eva Longoria shared, “Jennifer broke down so many doors so that we could walk through them. And she kicked them down. They were not easy doors.” Speaking about Lopez’s portrayal of Selena in the movie, she said, “I’m from Corpus Christi, Texas. I was an extra in that movie, and to look up on the stage and go, ‘Oh my gosh.'”
The Desperate Housewives star added how the role impacted her and shared, “First of all, to see Selena do it, and then to see Jennifer play Selena, you’re like, ‘There is opportunity for somebody who looks like me.” She then went ahead to tell People Magazine, “That’s the reason I do what I do. I want to build the pipeline of talent from our community but also showcase the talent that we have in our community.”
Eva Longoria on wanting to inspire her community
Eva Longoria is an American actress, producer, and director known best for her role as Gabriella Solis in Desperate Housewives. She also received a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for her portrayal in the series. Recently, in 2023, she started hosting a CNN show, Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico.
Eva Longoria herself impacted her community by breaking glass ceilings. At the event, Flamin’ Hot star Annie Gonzales also shared that actresses like Longoria paved the way for actors like herself.
Longoria belongs to the Latinx community and believes they have a lot to offer. She concluded the interview by sharing that the talent in her community has “never been tapped into” despite having “such amazing, talented actors, directors, writers, in front of, behind the camera. And so for me, the purpose of doing what I do is to help give our community that experience they need to go onto the next project.”
On the work front, Eva Longoria recently made her directorial debut with the movie Flamin’ Hot, released on Hulu and Disney+ this year in June. It featured the inspiring story of Richard Montanez, who made Famin’ Hot Cheetos a global pop culture phenomenon.
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