Eva Longoria ’s long-running performance as Gabrielle Solis on Desperate Housewives will go down in television history. However, the entertainer says she really was “not right for the role” when she first auditioned. During a chat with The Prom star Ariana DeBose, the 45-year-old icon elaborated on her Housewives audition story. And the reason she cites for booking the gig will make you laugh out loud!
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“I always believe when it’s your role, it’s your role,” Eva said to Ariana during their Instagram LIVE discussion. “When I did Desperate Housewives, they saw everybody and I was really not right for the role. I was 27 at the time and the role was for 40s.”
“I was really not talented,” she added, which Ariana, thankfully, disputed on behalf of us all. “I mean I was green and I was like I’m never gonna get this so f*** it!” Eva elaborated. “I had like eight auditions that day, and it was the last one of the day. I didn’t read the script, I just learned my lines.”
Eva recalled changing in her car in between auditions. “I put on a leopard dress. I was like, I hope I don’t get pulled over I look like a f***ing hooker right now,” she joked, “and I go in and Marc Cherry [the show’s creator] goes: ‘So, what did you think of the script?’”
The mom-of-one said she was going to pretend she had read it, but was nervous he’d ask her specific questions. So, instead, she opted for the truth: “I said, ‘You know what I didn’t read the script, I read my part and my part’s amazing.’” According to her, Marc later coined that moment as winning her the part. “I knew you were Gabby in the moment because it was the most selfish thing an actor could do,” she laughed.
Eva went on to reveal that she’s working with Marc again now! “I’m actually directing his show now,” she told Ariana, referencing Why Women Kill. The main focus of the chat was to discuss the 29-year-old American-Puerto-Rican’s role in Netflix’s star-studded musical The Prom directed by Ryan Murphy. “I’m a huge Ryan Murphy fan,” Eva said. “Everything he does just has a strong through-line of social issues.”
