Eva Longoria Says Grand Hotel Is the Escapism We "Need" Right Now

From Oprah Magazine

• Eva Longoria is the executive producer of ABC's new show Grand Hotel which premieres on Monday, June 17, at 10 p.m. ET.

• Here, Longoria talks to OprahMag.com about why Grand Hotel is the perfect escapist summer series-and why Latino representation on TV is more important now than ever.

Since we said goodbye to Eva Longoria's Desperate Housewives character Gabrielle Solis, the actress has been busy adding quite a few more accomplishments to her resume. Aside from other on-screen gigs-such as soap star Sofia Calederon in NBC's 2015 series Telenovela-she's executive produced series like Devious Maids, directed dozens of episodes on shows like Black-ish and Jane the Virgin, co-founded the Time's Up movement, and earned her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And, oh yeah: Somewhere in between all that, she also managed to get married to her husband José Bastón and gave birth to her adorable 1-year-old son, Santiago. (We highly recommend following her on Instagram to keep up with his adorable adventures.)

So calling Longoria a triple threat wouldn't even come close to doing her justice. And she clearly has no plans of slowing down: ABC just premiered Grand Hotel, a remake of the Spanish novela Gran Hotel that she helped adapt and executive produce. The drama is effervescent and addicting-or "delicious" as both Longoria and star Roselyn Sanchez call it-meant to be indulged from the couch on summer nights with the air conditioner blasting. Featuring Roselyn Sanchez and Demián Bichir as the matriarch and patriarch to a blended family that owns a swanky Miami hotel, the sexy drama will keep viewers hooked week-to-week.

Longoria also directed several episodes and made it a priority to bring in female directors. She even plays a small surprise role, one that I won't spoil for you-but know that when I first realized how she's included in the storyline, I clapped with delight.

"Grand Hotel is definitely escapism. Not only is the news and the media so depressing, but TV is at its greatest right now-but also its darkest," Longoria tells OprahMag.com. "Those shows are great, but can really pull you further into the abyss, so we're going for pure escapism. Grand Hotel is so beautiful, it just looks like an Instagram feed-you want to be where this family is. And then you definitely want to get into their life, because it's so juicy and dramatic."

When I point out that as a viewer, it feels gratifying to see a fellow Latina helming a show about a Latino family during a time where the Trump administration is sending America a very different message, Longoria quickly agrees.

"I think this is why we need a show like this-to show a different side to Latinos, and not just what you hear in the news or from this particular administration who is villainizing the word Latino," she says. "For me, that makes producing and making Grand Hotel even more urgent."

Before Grand Hotel makes its way to small screens everywhere on June 17 at 10 p.m. on ABC, Longoria offered up more details about the show, plus gave us intel on her role as the mother to a now-16-year-old Dora the Explorer in the live-action movie Dora and the Lost City of Gold, out this August. And while she delivered some sad news for anyone who's been hopeful for a Desperate Housewives reboot, she provided plenty of reasons why Grand Hotel might be even juicier.

Grand Hotel is now one of the few shows on television featuring a Latino cast-and an executive producer, in your case. I was disappointed when Telenovela and Devious Maids were canceled, because they felt for us, by us. Do you feel pressure to make this show work, because we need this Latino representation?

I definitely like to produce with purpose. And for me, the purpose of this show was to do an upstairs-downstairs show where the upstairs was Hispanic. Where the people of color were the affluent, rich, educated, independent ones. And that's a different side of the coin to show. So as the producer, as not only a female but as a Latina, to be able to reflect that in our casting and in our crew is important to me. It's very important to me. And we're of course hoping that everyone will support this show and that it will be successful, because television needs a series like this right now.

Your husband José is a successful businessman in Latino media. Do you guys ever help one another when it comes to your work?

Oh gosh, my husband gives me life lessons daily! He's one of the kindest, smartest human beings I've ever met. We don't really get involved in each other's businesses, but he's just a wonderful partner to have because he's just so supportive of me and everything that I want to accomplish. We respect each other. I definitely bounce ideas off of him and he bounces ideas off of me, so it's nice to be in the same industry but in different roles.

I loved seeing the photos of you on set directing while breastfeeding Santiago. Do you have any advice for moms who are struggling with balancing motherhood and career?

That's a hard one. Women have been doing it for centuries-child-raising and working hard-so I'm not re-inventing the wheel. But I have an amazing support system, and I think you really have to find your tribe. It does take a village, and I have that infrastructure. I'm really lucky to have that infrastructure between my family and my friends who not only cheer me on but help me out as well, and I think that I have an amazing partner and that's great. And I'm also in an industry that allows me to take my child everywhere. He's on set with me, he's behind the camera with me, he's in my office, and a lot of women don't have that luxury. So I would definitely consider myself lucky.

You executive produced Devious Maids, which also starred Roselyn Sanchez. What was it like working together again?

Oh, amazing. We're very good friends, so we see each other all the time socially anyway, so to be able to see each other on set everyday, it was just a blast. She's taught me a lot about the industry. She was one of the first Latinas to really make it. She's a movie star. She's a dancer, she's a singer. She did everything before anybody did, and she's such an inspiration to me-so to be able to work with her in this capacity again is great.

I love that you moved from acting to producing, just like our O of O has. Have you learned any lessons from Oprah throughout your career?

She's the one I learned from about producing with purpose! I remember when she said it on The Oprah Winfrey Show. I remember even when she had a daily daytime show, she talked about doing every episode with purpose. And I thought "That's hard. How do you do that many episodes a year where each of them is meaningful?" But I realized from her example that if that was her goal then I can I can definitely do it project by project.

In this time of reboots and remakes, do you think Desperate Housewives is a show that could ever come back-or did it run its course?

Well we had a decade of shows. People like to compare us to Sex and the City where they did three movies, but Sex and the City had, like, eight episodes per season. We had 24 episodes for eight years. So we fully mined those characters. I don't think there's a lot left to mine from them, so I don't think so. But I would always welcome any kind of Desperate Housewives comeback, just because I just miss being Gabby Solis so much. She was fun.

I can't wait for the world to see Grand Hotel. What are you excited about next?

I have Dora the Explorer coming out in August. It's so good, it's so fun. It really is. I can't wait for the world to see the live action version of Dora the Explorer. We absolutely need it in a time where I think our young girls are today-because this is Dora at 16, it's not the 6-year-old Dora. So it's high school Dora and she's cool and she's intelligent and she's smart and she's independent and she knows who she is and she stays true to herself, and that's important for our youth today with social media and comparisons and the pressure that comes with that and the bullying. So to have a little girl that is the opposite of all of that in Dora is gonna be refreshing.

You always look fantastic. What do you do for self-care to make sure you feel good inside and out?

Exercise is part of my lifestyle, it's just incorporated into my day. Luckily I have a husband who loves to work out with me. We go running together, we love to do yoga together, so I think that's important that you have a partner that supports the same thing that you want to do. I think it's not about diet and exercise, it's about having a healthy lifestyle, having a healthy consciousness of what you're putting in your body, and how you're thanking your body and rewarding it with body care. So that means the fun stuff! Treatments, massages, chiropractor, all of it. Self-care is really important. You have to treat yourself.

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