Eva Longoria has admitted she had no issue with being typecast in ‘sexy’ roles following her appearance in Desperate Housewives, revealing she actively embraced saying ‘yes’ to acting jobs dripping in sex appeal.
The actress, 49, famously starred as Gabrielle Solis in all eight seasons of the ABC comedy drama that ran from 2004 to 2012, and during that time she had no qualms leaning into being pigeonholed.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Eva said that she didn’t shy away from being cast in sexed-up roles because she knows she is ‘so much more.’
She said: ‘Somebody asked me: “Aren’t you scared you’re going to be pigeonholed into being sexy or sexy roles?”
‘And I was like, “That would be great. That’d be great.” I’m riding sexy to the beach. So I never really bustled with [that]. I’m so much more.
Eva Longoria embraced being typecast in ‘sexy’ roles following her appearance in Desperate Housewives
The actress, 49, famously played Gabrielle Solis in the ABC dramedy (pictured wth Ricardo Antonio Chavira as Carlos Solis and Jesse Metcalfe as teenage gardener John Rowland)
‘I’m like, “no, I know I’m more, but I’ll take the sexy roles.” I embraced it and it was fun and great.
‘And when people still call me that today, I’m like, “Well, thank you. Thank you very much.”‘
Eva’s character embarked on a sordid affair with her teenage gardener John Rowland, played by Jesse Metcalfe, with the pair frequently seen enjoying steamy clinches as Gaby battled to hide their illicit romance from her husband Carlos (Ricardo S. Chavira) and the residents of Wisteria Lane.
Over the course of her career, she leaned into sexy roles, playing the lead in the 2008 romcom Over Her Dead Body alongside Paul Rudd and Lake Bell.
Eva, who is married to José Bastón, 56, with whom she has six-year-old son Santiago, also starred alongside Jason Bigs and Rob Corddry in the black comedy Lower Leaning in that same year.
It has been 12 years since Desperate Housewives aired its final episode, and while Eva is keen to reprise her role in a reboot, she revealed that creator Marc Cherry has zero desire to revisit Wisteria Lane.
‘I would be the first one to sign up,’ she said.
‘I loved Desperate Housewives, and I love my time on the show and I love the women – and we all still talk.
In the show, Eva’s character Gaby embarked on a sordid affair with John, sharing several intimate scenes
I know I’m more, but I’ll take the sexy roles… And when people still call me that today, I’m like, “Well, thank you. Thank you very much,”‘ she told DailyMail.com
Eva also played the lead in the 2008 romcom Over Her Dead Body alongside Paul Rudd
‘Marc Cherry, our creator, doesn’t want to do a reboot. He’s really adamant on the fact that there’s nothing more to say with these characters.’
Eva’s Gaby was one of four housewives alongside Bree Van de Kamp, Lynette Scavo and Susan Mayer, played by Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Teri Hatcher, respectively.
The show, which followed their lives on the fictional Wisteria Lane in the wake of the mysterious suicide of a neighbor, was groundbreaking for it’s predominantly 40 plus, all-female cast.
Revealing why Marc refuses to revisit the popular quartet, Eva said: ‘I’ve talked to him several times. I’m like, “Marc, we have to do a reboot every so often.” But he feels like we came out at a time where it was really groundbreaking and we were a dramedy and there was no other dramedy at the time.
‘And we were, you know, actors over 40 and it was like it was a big deal. And now it’s not.’
She continued: ‘Desperate Housewives were on at a time where it was 24 episodes a year for eight years. None of this six to eight episodes bulls**t.
‘So he feels like we fully explored these characters. Like I couldn’t sleep with one more person on Wisteria Lane. I slept with everybody! I fought with everybody.
‘And so he felt like he doesn’t have anything else to mine. I would be on board. I would be the first one. He knows it.’
Eva has loudly registered interest in reprising her Desperate Housewives role in a reboot
Eva, whose latest role was in Apple drama Land of Women, previously told DailyMail.com that the show should have employed an intimacy coordinator as she opened up about what it was really like to film so many raunchy scenes with Jesse.
‘I had a lot of intimate scenes,’ she said. ‘We both came from soaps, which was like not worse, but like a lot of kissing scenes. So we were both like, okay, whatever. Like, we didn’t really it didn’t bother us.
‘But I looking back now, I go, my gosh, we probably should have had an intimacy coordinator just in case somebody was uncomfortable.
‘But Jesse and I were so close that we had a really nice relationship and agreement about what we were comfortable with.’
She continued: ‘Also, we were on network TV, so there wasn’t a lot we could do anyway.’