10 Things You Did not Know about Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria at the Cannes Film Festival by Georges Biard from Wikimedia Commons

10 Things You Did not Know about Eva Longoria

The American actress, producer, and director Eva Longoria has surprising realities. She is most famous for starring in the Desperate Housewives television series on ABC. The series aired from 2004 to 2012 and she played Gabrielle Solis.

Moreover, she grew up as a country girl. While still in high school, she got a job so that she could pay for her quinceañera (a Spanish girl’s 15^th birthday celebration to mark her entry into womanhood).

Further, Eva Longoria’s academic background is in Science. The superstar has many talents, such as serving as a spokesperson for PADRES Contra El Cancer. She has been the brand ambassador for leading companies like L’Oréal. Eva is also committed to giving back to her community. Get to know her better with our list of fascinating facts.

Here are 10 Things You Did not Know about Eva Longoria.

1. Eva Longoria hails from Texas

She was born on March 15, 1975, in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the youngest of three sisters. Her mother Ella Eva and her father Enrique Longoria Jr. had Mexican-American roots.

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2. Eva Longoria’s first job at Wendy’s

A Wendy’s in Waco, Texas by Michael Barera from Wikimedia Commons

The actress worked at Wendy’s from 1991 to 1994 while still in high school. She desired to pay for her quinceañera hence she took up a part-time job in the restaurant. Her earnings made it possible for her to pay for her cheerleading and everything else during her quinceañera.

3. She is into STEM

Eva Longoria at Imagine Cup 2011 by Imagine Cup from Wikimedia Commons

Science is her thing and Longoria is a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) girl. She graduated in 1997 from Texas A&M University-Kingsville with a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology.

4. Eva Longoria is good at sewing

The Hollywood star revealed she can sew amazing Halloween outfits while speaking to Us magazine in 2017. She added that she had made lions, spiders, princesses, Dracula, and pumpkins which were mostly for her nieces and nephews.

5. She took her master’s studies while shooting Desperate Housewives

In 2013, she earned her master’s degree in Chicano Studies from California State University, Northridge. Her thesis was a report on “The Value of Latinas in STEM Careers”.

According to a 2014 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on ABC, Eva Longoria spoke of her balance between studies and acting. She admitted that she attended night school while shooting Desperate Housewives.

Furthermore, Longoria would spend all day on set and be present for her in-person classes in the evening. This meant rushing from set to class with all makeup and full hair.

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6. Eva Longoria studied to help her community

Eva Longoria at Imagine Cup 2011 with Team Hawk from Iraq by Imagine Cup from Wikimedia Commons

As per a report by Latina.com, Eva said she needed to understand what her community had gone through. Hence she would be a better source of change. Thus she chose a master’s program in Chicano Studies.

Additionally, Longoria argued her charity work also needed such capacity. Further her engagement with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) demanded a good handle on her community’s needs.

7. She learned shooting as a child

Longoria played a federal agent in The Sentinel film of 2006. Indie London sought to know how well she had stepped up for the role. Eva Longoria talked of her ranch upbringing as enough preparation to match her role.

She narrated that her father took her hunting and shooting together with her siblings when they were growing up. So handling a gun for her was easy. Though she admitted it wasn’t a fun activity or a sport for her.

Over and above that, she expressed her knowledge of hunting. Saying she could skin a deer, or pig and even pluck a quail. This was all thanks to her father’s exposure to such activities during her childhood.

8. Eva Longoria grew up dubbed “ugly”

Eva Longoria in 2021 by Peabody Awards from Wikimedia Commons

This Hollywood actress opened up to Daily Mail in 2008 about her self-esteem when she was growing up. She was often teased because of her dark skin and black hair.

She admired her sisters who to her appeared as light blondes with hazel eyes. She was the darkest of her family and so people referred to her as “ugly”.

The negative sentiments gave her the strength to become a fighter. Longoria knew nothing was going to come easy for her because she believed she was ugly. So she gave herself to hard work right from a young age.

9. She is a philanthropist

Eva’s Heroes is one of her charity works. Longoria founded it in 2006.  It is based in San Antonio, Texas, and aims at helping young adults with developmental disabilities. The organization was inspired by her sister who suffers from an intellectual disability.

Eva Longoria Foundation is her other respected charity work. It is focused on closing the education gap facing Latinas and beating poverty in their region. The foundation has set programs that help Latinas excel in school and manage to attend college. She is involved in other countless charity missions.

10. Maxim’s Hottest two years in a row

Eva Longoria at the Cannes Film Festival by Georges Biard from Wikimedia Commons

Eva Longoria topped Maxim’s Hottest Female Stars listing in 2005 and 2006. She made a record as the first woman to hold the number one position on the ranking for two consecutive times.

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Here are quick facts about Eva Longoria

11. She has been featured on international women’s magazine covers like Vogue, Marie Claire, and Harper’s Bazaar.

12. In 2003, People en Español ranked her among its “Most Beautiful People”. She is in many listings of Hollywood’s Most Beautiful as well.

13. Longoria received the ALMA Award for entertainer of the year in 2006. ALMA is American Latino Media Arts Award.

14. In 2011, she was number one on Forbes magazine’s ranking of the highest-paid TV actresses for that year.

15. She is a fan of American actress Zoe Saldana as per her interview with Us magazine in 2017.