Eva Longoria opens up about her career pivot and what happened after Desperate Housewives

Eva Longoria opened up about going from being a daytime soap opera actress to her first feature film directorial debut.

In the latest digital cover issue of The Hollywood Reporter, the 48-year-old actress delved into her longstanding acting career as well as her latest project as the director of Flamin’ Hot.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine star — who dined with the Beckhams in Paris on Monday — also talked about what actually happened after Desperate Housewives and facing resistance as she tried to pursue her passion of directing.

After wrapping up the eighth and final season of the comedy-drama series in 2012, she said: ‘That last year of Housewives, I remember getting every single show offered to me to star in … to star in … to star in …

‘I got [offered] everything, and I turned everything down,’ she recalled. 

She also opened up about the difficulties she faced after expressing her desire to move into the realm of working behind the camera and directing.

‘The industry’s definitely wary of an actor coming in [to direct],’ The Young And The Restless vet explained. 

‘For me, it was about overcoming that,’ she continued. ‘It wasn’t sexism or racism. It was like, “Here comes a dumb actor”.’

During the interview, she also talked about trying to marry her passion for filmmaking with advocating for Latino representation in the entertainment industry.

‘It wasn’t as a big of a conversation as it is now,’ she said about the lack of roles for Latinas as she was growing up. ‘The word “diversity” gets thrown around so much today.

‘Back then, there were really no efforts or programs or initiatives,’ she added. ‘I had Roselyn Sánchez. When I came to Hollywood, she was starring with The Rock; she was starring in Rush Hour. I felt like, “Oh, I see somebody who looks like me”.’ 

Despite all that she overcame and landing major roles in popular sitcoms, the film and television producer also talked about disappointing her family.

‘I was the huge disappointment in my family,’ she revealed she felt guilty for not continuing her education. ‘They are all educators.

‘I’m like, “I’m kind of on the biggest show in the world right now”,’ she recalled the conversation that pushed her to return to school and earn her Master’s degree in Chicano Studies at California State University Northridge. ‘And they were like, “Right, but you don’t have your master’s”.’

Since then, the activist has participated and spearheaded many efforts to create change — which she says is the motivating factor for her passion for directing as well.

She explained: ‘That was the goal and the purpose of getting behind the camera, creating more opportunity for my community.’