Eva Longoria’s challenge of taking a risk with her first work in Spanish

We are used to seeing her very little. In the last decade, Eva Longoria He has taken refuge behind the camera to produce and direct, but not to act. Until now. With Land of womenthe new proposal from Apple TV +, the actress has returned to the small screen to the surprise of her audience, and also for herself. An experience as exciting and enriching as it is challenging and terrifying.. This is how she herself has defined it. Returning to acting has not been the problem, it is something else that literally terrified her about this filming in Spain. A fear that he had to face.

Eva was very clear that if she returned to television as an actress, it had to be with something she felt comfortable with. She ruled out a detective role or unsolved crimes, successful themes this year with titles such as true detective either The house of the dragon. Rather, something was proposed that was the complete opposite and resembled old well-known plots such as those of Under the Tuscan Sun either Eat, Pray, Love. A much more realistic and everyday staging that would address everyday issues with a sense of humor and a pinch of surrealism. That’s why, when it came into his hands land of womenbased on the novel by the Spanish writer Sandra Barneda, he accepted with his eyes closed.

Additionally, having as a companion a first lady of the Spanish scene like Carmen Maura (Women at the edge of a nervous attack) and the Spanish writer, producer and personal friend Ramón Campos at the helm, made it even easier for her to say ‘Yes’. However, as idyllic as the situation may seem, it was not all rosy. Accepting the role of Gala also meant facing one of the most difficult challenges of her career. At 49 years old, with a career full of triumphs and having done almost everything, he had to overcome his weakest point in acting and also one of his great fears: speaking in Spanish. Something that he had been letting go and from which he could no longer escape.

Yes, she would have to speak Spanish. But not just any Spanish, but the most traditional, pure Castilian. Despite her image of a strong woman who can do everything, Eva admits that the feeling was one of genuine horror. “I was terrified of speaking Spanish, I felt that I needed all my cells to be dedicated to learning Spanish, speaking Spanish, acting in Spanish, memorizing in Spanish and in comedy,” she explained to The Hollywood Reporter.

Although her husband is from Mexico, where they lived for a while, and her origins are from this country, she did not grow up speaking it, so her level has never been very good. Quite the opposite. If you add to that the small big detail that she would have to learn the Spanish accent, Eva’s fear multiplied. “On top of that, in Castilian Spanish from Mother Earth, terrifying. I didn’t speak that,” she remembers of that moment. “Doing this in front of Carmen Maura, who is a legend in Spain and in comedy, made me question: ‘What mess have I gotten myself into?‘“, he says of that moment.

The positive side of the matter is that the series is bilingual, which makes it more justifiable that Eva’s Spanish in the series is not the best. It is obvious that it is not her first language and that she has to make an effort to speak it. But the plot allows for this.

land of women is a comedy-drama that tells the story of Gala, Eva, a well-off New York mother who gets into debt for millions to dangerous criminals because of her husband. When they threaten to wipe out her family, she is forced to flee the country with her mother Julia (Carmen Maura) and her teenage daughter Kate (Victoria Bazúa) to move to her mother’s hometown in northern Spain. The adventures in this charming wine-growing town make this plot a favorite among Apple TV+ users.

The reviews, just two days after its release, have been very positive and things have only just begun. Eva is used to succeeding, but from the shadows. Being a woman and a Latina in Hollywood is not an easy combination, but she has always pulled out all the stops to show that talent does not come from birth. Many remember her for her famous role in Desperate wives, but few know that he is behind great projects on the small and big screen. He has developed short films, produced series and movies, directed episodes of Devious Maids, Telenovela, Jane the Virgin, Black-ish and other series. He even directed a documentary released in 2022 about the rivalry in the ring between Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez titled The civil War. And that’s not all, last year he released his first fiction feature film on Disney+, Flamin’ Hot: The flavor that changed history, a drama inspired by the true story of a Latino janitor who revolutionized the snack industry with the famous Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

‘Land of Women’ is receiving positive reviews. (Courtesy of Apple TV+)

She has always been in search of the perfect story and with her Latin roots as her flag. With her return as an actress in Land of women, Eva returns to a facet that she had almost forgotten. “It’s the first time I’ve been in front of a camera in almost a decade. I’ve been directing and producing for the last 12 years and being behind them. I forgot about acting. I told myself: ‘Of course, you’re an actress too.’. So when I decided that I wanted to return to television, it had to be in Spain, I have never filmed there, in fact, this is my first performance in Spanish,” he stated in this interview with THR.

The next thing was a call to his friend Campos, who is behind hits like Velvet and The Cable GirlsIt was a tempting offer and he decided to go ahead with it, despite all the fear and risk that this entailed. land of women It is also very special for Eva because it is the first project to be born under the wing of her production company Hyphenate Media Group banner. This gives the entrepreneur the opportunity to take another step towards this new success in her career.

After six months of filming in Spain for this first season and with the challenge of speaking Spanish overcome, it seems that the actress is going to take the plunge and get involved in directing the series. “They originally asked me and I loved the idea, I always prefer to direct, act and produce,” she explained. But she felt that, for this time, she had to let go and focus on the language challenge. Now it’s a different story. “I thought that, this time, I had to focus on acting. But, in the second season, I think I would like to direct (an episode),” she shared. With Eva, it is proven that challenges and fears were made to be overcome.

This article was written exclusively for Yahoo en Español by Cine54.