Eva Longoria: ‘We were all very close’
Eva Longoria reveals how becoming a mother has transformed her, why she’s proud to blaze trails for other women and what rumours of backstage strife during the Desperate Housewives years got so wrong.
Stellar
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Plenty of actresses faced with headlining a one hour and 42-minute movie featuring themselves with several kilos of post-baby weight would freak out at the prospect. But Eva Longoria is not most actresses.
In fact, upon seeing herself in the forthcoming Dora And The Lost City Of Gold, the first-time mum was delighted to be reminded of those heady days of new motherhood.
“My breasts were three times the size they are now, and I’m 30lb [13.6 kilos] heavier,” she tells Stellar with a laugh. “Santi was only six weeks old when we were filming, so when I see the movie, I just see myself breastfeeding!”
“Santi” is, of course, Santiago Enrique Bastón, the son who 44-year-old Longoria dubbed a “blessing” when she and husband José “Pepe” Bastón welcomed him in June of last year, just a month and a half before she headed to the Gold Coast to shoot the film.
Becoming a mother was never a given, nor something Longoria was willing to pursue at all costs. But when she met and fell for media mogul Bastón, the decision to have a child was a natural consequence.
“Children are a product of love and I finally met the person I wanted to do that with,” she explains.
When Stellar speaks to Longoria, she is back home in Los Angeles — and arguably in the best shape of her life, given she trained solidly in the run-up to this year’s Cannes Film Festival in France, which she attended.
But on reflection, the actor, producer, activist and businesswoman is proud that the Dora movie captured a significant and special moment for her.
“You have to thank your body for creating life,” she says. “You have to have gratitude towards your body and that’s how I approached it. From the heartburn to the weight gain, I loved everything that happened because it was the product of my son growing.”
Bringing Dora’s story to the big screen in a live action, rather than animated, movie was also important to Longoria not just because the cartoon character is such a positive role model for children around the world, but because it was the first time she had played a mother while being a mother.
“My instincts were totally different than before I had a child,” she reveals. “For instance, there’s a scene in the movie where Dora runs back into the crumbling temple and Michael [Peña] and I, who play her parents, run after her. The director called ‘cut’ and had to tell us that we had to let her run in by herself, but our instincts were to be protective.”
It has been 15 years since Longoria became an international star, thanks to her role as spoiled social climber Gabrielle Solis on Desperate Housewives.
Long before reality television consumed the culture and the likes of the Kardashians became household names, the women of Wisteria Lane were the talk of every town.
Over eight years and 180 episodes, Longoria and her co-stars dominated both TV screens and gossip columns as fans speculated on the drama that unspooled on and off camera.
In 2005, a year into the show, the five leads posed in swimsuits around a pool for a Vanity Fair cover, but the story inside was overshadowed by rumours of infighting and reports the women were angrily jostling for the centre spot.
Notably, it was Longoria who enjoyed the prime position; she would later go on to star in a comedic skit on Saturday Night Live re-creating the infamous shoot.
Today Longoria is keen to scotch the notion that the cast hated each other. “We had a great sisterhood on Desperate Housewives,” she insists. “But that’s not what people wanted to talk about most of the time.”
When it’s pointed out that headlines made by contemporary female-led TV shows, such as Big Little Lies, focus more on collegiality than rivalry, Longoria agrees that both the mood and the messaging have changed.
“During Desperate Housewives, there was no social media,” she explains. “Whereas today Reese [Witherspoon] and Nicole [Kidman] have their own platforms, so you can tell they are very close friends. We didn’t have our own channels to debunk rumours, so people didn’t get the inside view on how close we all were.”
The hit TV show may have sent her career into the stratosphere, but it also proved an unlikely setting for cementing Longoria’s political activism.
Raised in Texas as the youngest of four daughters, she says she was inspired by how hard her mother worked, both in paid jobs and in raising her children, including one with special needs. Longoria has a bachelor’s degree in science and, during her time on Desperate Housewives, she gained a master’s degree in Chicano studies.
A passionate Hillary Clinton supporter, Longoria even cut short her 2016 honeymoon with Bastón to attend a fundraiser for the presidential hopeful. Her husband understood how important it was to her but, as she tells Stellar, she was “heartbroken” when Clinton lost.
“She really was the most qualified candidate we’ve had in the history of presidential elections, but it’s even more heartbreaking to see the direction your country is going,” she says. “I can’t wait for the 2020 elections to make sure everybody’s voice is heard, and everyone takes their civic duty responsibly and educates themselves on the candidates. It’s coming up pretty fast.”
If her Desperate Housewives days saw her unfairly positioned as a lightweight, the years since have allowed Longoria to grow into one of the most respected women in Hollywood.
She has been a vocal participant in the #MeToo and Time’s Up campaigns that followed widespread sexual harassment revelations in the industry, and slapped down TV host Carson Daly when he suggested the latter was a “moment” in history.
“This is not a moment,” she told him. “This is a movement.”
She is more than just a spokesperson for change. When she’s producing or directing, most recently for her TV series Grand Hotel, Longoria focuses on creating what she calls a “pipeline of talent” for other women.
“When you are producing or directing, you go through the door and you’ve got to leave it open for other women,” she says emphatically. “Anytime you’re in a position of power or leadership, you have to lead by example and hire women in non-traditional roles.
“Those traditional male jobs such as cinematographer or stunt co-ordinator or editor [don’t go to women] not because they are not talented, but because they need to get a foothold. We don’t give women the experience they need to get hired in the first place.”
Aside from forcing discussions around making real changes in working conditions for women in industries far beyond show business, Longoria points out another unexpected benefit of the movement for which she is grateful.
“I’m happy that aside from wanting to create a safer work space for women across all industries, I’m really enjoying the sisterhood we’ve created.
“Before, society created this competition among women which made you believe there was only room for one and I’m going to be that one. Now we know that’s not true — there’s room for more women at the top.”
Longoria’s activism — which includes fighting for opportunities for Latina women like herself — both underpins her multiple philanthropic ventures and informs her commercial partnerships.
And with so many strands to her portfolio career, one might think motherhood would have made Longoria pull back.
But rather than competing with her causes, child-rearing has intensified her determination to make a difference.
“There was nothing surprising about becoming a mother because I knew he was going to be my priority, but I didn’t realise how much more intense my philanthropy has become.
“The stakes are so much higher because we’ve got to make the world a better place because I’m not going to be here one day. I really feel anxiety about the world he will be living in.”
It may seem she has found that elusive balance between a content home life and a productive and purposeful career, but Longoria is quick to point out that her management of various commitments is as challenging as anyone else’s.
Indeed, she breaks off mid-interview to take another phone call, presumably from her husband. “I’m glad you landed safely. I love you,” she says, before returning to our chat.
She is proud of the work the Eva Longoria Foundation does with Latino families and makes sure her team applauds their victories. “Every November, we reflect on our progress. If we affect 2000 parents, that means we’ve affected 10,000 kids, which means we’ve affected communities.”
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Yet for all her success, she relishes the constant learning, particularly when it comes to raising her own child. Just recently, she realised she wanted to emulate her friend Victoria Beckham in terms of parenting. “She’s so creative with her child. I want to do that myself. It creates a great bonding.”
After a teen crush on her other great mate Ricky Martin, Longoria went on to marry three times, but it’s with Bastón she’s found lasting happiness. He came with her to Australia for Dora and they enjoyed time off in Sydney. “It’s one of my favourite cities in the world,” she says.
Not that Bastón was in many of her Instagram posts at the time. “My husband’s allergic to social media,” she says. “He’s definitely more private, so out of respect to him, I don’t post pictures.”
One benefit of growing older, she says, is that she has become much better at love. “It’s respect,” she explains. “We have so much respect for each other, and we support each other’s goals and dreams.
“When I was younger it was so much about what I needed to accomplish, and I’ve accomplished so much already that I can really sit back now and enjoy the success and continue to dream bigger with a partner.”
Her advice? “Get married at 40!”
Dora And The Lost City Of Gold is in cinemas from Thursday, September 19.