Eva Longoria: ‘A Woman Over 40 Is Pretty Interesting’

Actress Eva Longoria, 49, is all about celebrating strong women. “I’ve had amazing women in my life from the get-go. I didn’t grow up with celebrity culture, so my mentor and my role model was always my mom,” she says. Her new Apple TV+ series, Land of Women, premiering June 26, also focuses on strong familial ties. After her character’s husband implicates her family in a series of financial crimes, she flees New York City, along with her mother and daughter, to hide out in Spain. Longoria tells AARP how filming the show in Spain is her dream come true, how she plans to expand her charitable foundation, and how she’s keeping fit as she approaches 50.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Where would you run off to if you had to escape?

Spain. I love Spain.… In Spain, they really appreciate life, so the [work] hours are more manageable. I’m able to be with my family. It’s just a different way of life here.

I read that you have moved to Spain. Is that true?

I mean, yes and no. I don’t know where we’ll be. It depends where I’m shooting — I live in Spain, I live in Paris, I live in Mexico City, I live where I’m working.

The show deals with female familial relationships. Is that relatable for you?

Oh yeah. I grew up with my grandmother. I grew up with my aunt. I grew up with my sisters. I grew up definitely in a “land of women.” I love that the show is about these three generations of women that don’t have the best relationships going in, and through all these series of circumstances have to work together, and they do grow closer. It’s beautiful to watch.

As an executive producer, how involved were you in the decisions surrounding the show?

All of it. I had told Ramón [show creator-writer-executive producer Ramón Campos], who is a friend of mine, I want to shoot in Spain. I want to act in Spanish [and do] something in the wine country, somewhere beautiful. I want to enjoy working in Spain. And he came back and he was like, “Here we go.”

It feels like women are finally getting more acting opportunities as they age. Do you think older actors are being appreciated more?

Desperate Housewives was groundbreaking back then. [Longoria starred in the ABC series, which ran from 2004 to 2012.] It was like, Whoa, there’s life after 40? Yeah, women are complex and full of life.… I thought, maybe Desperate Housewives broke down a door for women over 40. Now you see so many great roles [for women]. You see Salma Hayek [57] in her prime. You see Angelina Jolie [49] working away. Things are changing — they’re finding that a woman over 40 is pretty interesting.