Side Dish: More with Eva Longoria

Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Episode: Side Dish: More with Eva Longoria
Recorded at: Cuckoo in West Hollywood
Release Date: May 28, 2026

This lively “Side Dish” episode brings listeners back to Jesse’s dinner table with Eva Longoria, celebrated actor, director, producer, and activist. The conversation bounces between directing comedy films, cultural identity, navigating political climates, family, food as connection, and behind-the-scenes moments from both Hollywood and Eva's ongoing docuseries. The tone is warm, candid, honest, and full of laughter, with both guests sharing personal fears, creative struggles, and a love for travel and food.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Eva’s Directing Debut & The Fifth Wheel (01:56–06:47)

• Eva excitedly discusses being in post-production for her big Netflix comedy directorial project, The Fifth Wheel, written by Paula Pell and Janine Brito.

• She talks about wrangling friends and family into the experience, and the uniquely female-driven cast and crew.

• Quote:

  “It feels big for a female comedy to have that budget. Those stars. It's gonna be... especially women are gonna be like, we've gotta go see it now.”
  — Eva Longoria (09:47)

• Eva opens up about the imposter-syndrome she felt auditioning to direct:

  “My agent called. She goes, how do you feel? I go, God, I'm so scared. And she goes, that you're not going to get it? And I go, no, that I'm going to get it and have to do everything I just said I was going to do.”
  — Eva Longoria (05:22)

• Jesse relates his own nerves as a first-time feature director and both discuss asking for help and surrounding oneself with experts (“That's their job. They geek out on it.” — Eva, 22:39).

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Living Between Cultures & Cities (10:03–14:39)

• Eva shares her transitions between LA, Mexico City, Spain, and how current US politics have affected her sense of home and activism:

  “I really split my time evenly because I really am so invested in making sure our democracy is alive.”
  — Eva Longoria (13:37)

• Jesse, as a father in a same-sex marriage, talks about feeling both proud and anxious about raising a family in America’s current climate:

  “I have to look at the reality of the situation, make sure that I'm smart about my choices.”
  — Jesse Tyler Ferguson (14:15)

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The Magic of Mexico City & Food as Culture (10:15–12:49; 15:35–19:14)

• Eva dishes on favorite Mexico City restaurants, especially the Taco Tasting Room (“There's no menu... only 14 seats... it's amazing.” 10:33), and the French roots of Mexican pastry.

• The pair geek out over the city’s culinary scene (Rosetta in Roma, Maximo, and more), and Eva gives listeners a brief and fascinating history lesson:

  “People don't know that the French... occupied Mexico for a short amount of time... They brought all the bakers, so a lot of Mexican bread is based in French.”
  — Eva Longoria (11:59)

• Both agree food is the gateway to understanding a place:

  “I think the easiest way into any culture is food. You can go to China and not speak Chinese, but you have a dim sum, and you're like, this is amazing.”
  — Eva Longoria (17:29)

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Family, Legacy, and Travel (15:35–16:36)

• Jesse recounts honoring his late mother’s wish that she "just take me traveling" by sprinkling her ashes in meaningful places:

  “I take a little piece of her everywhere… It's probably illegal, but… they don't know where she is. What are they gonna do?”
  — Jesse Tyler Ferguson (16:23)

• Eva expresses her belief that “the best gift is to travel,” gifting her sisters trips every Christmas.

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Behind the Scenes: Cooking, Directing, and the "Searching For" Series (16:36–24:31)

• Eva reveals the origins of CNN’s Searching for Mexico (spin-off of Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy):

  “That’s really why I wanted to do Searching for Mexico, because... there’s a relationship between the culture that is here in the United States that is additive, and it’s beautiful.”
  — Eva Longoria (17:40)

• She breaks down the link between food and bridging cultural divides, and how each “Searching for” season let her connect with her Mexican, Spanish, and French roots:

  “I was definitely French in another life. I speak French.”
  — Eva Longoria (18:18)

• Eva humorously demonstrates a North-of-France shellfish-eating trick (19:13), delighting Jesse.

• On directing and not having all the answers on set:

  “I always, like, start with that. Look, I don't know what I'm doing. What I do know is the vision of this film has to be this.”
  — Eva Longoria (20:37) “You can't know everything about everything. That's what Liz Banks would always tell me.”
  — Jesse Tyler Ferguson (22:32)

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Representation and Adapting Latinx Stories for TV (22:45–24:31)

• Eva recounts the journey of adapting an Isabel Allende book for TV and the importance of authenticity in representation:

  “It couldn't have been anybody else except those two Chilean women who made it a Chilean story... it's so authentic, it's so beautiful.”
  — Eva Longoria (23:47)

• Discusses the impact of books being banned and censored:

  “When your book is banned, that means must be good shit.”
  — Jesse Tyler Ferguson (24:51)

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Identity, Texas Roots, and U.S. Politics (25:34–26:58)

• Eva reflects on her Texas upbringing and political ambivalence, and gives credit to former President George W. Bush’s stance on immigration reform:

  “He was the president that got closest to immigration reform than any other president in the history of our nation.”
  — Eva Longoria (25:49)

• She shares how she’s still proud to be Texan, despite current politics, and reminisces about ranch life (“I've never met a cow I don't like.” 26:32).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments by Timestamp

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Context | |--------------|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 05:22 | Eva Longoria | “No, that I'm going to get it and have to do everything I just said I was going to do.” | | 09:47 | Eva Longoria | “Feels big for a female comedy to have that budget. Those stars...” | | 10:33 | Eva Longoria | “The taco tasting room... only 14 seats. It's so good.” | | 11:59 | Eva Longoria | “People don't know that the French had conquered... They brought all the bakers...” | | 13:37 | Eva Longoria | “So I really split my time evenly because I really am so invested in making sure our democracy is alive.” | | 14:15 | Jesse Tyler Ferguson | “I have to look at... make sure that I'm smart about my choices.” | | 16:23 | Jesse Tyler Ferguson | “I take a little piece of her everywhere, and I sprinkle... What are they gonna do?” | | 17:29 | Eva Longoria | “I think the easiest way into any culture is food.” | | 20:37 | Eva Longoria | “Look, I don't know what I'm doing. What I do know is the vision of this film has to be this.”| | 22:32 | Jesse Tyler Ferguson | “You can't know everything about everything. That's what Liz Banks would always tell me.” | | 23:47 | Eva Longoria | “It couldn't have been anybody else except those two Chilean women who made it a Chilean story.”| | 24:51 | Jesse Tyler Ferguson | “When your book is banned, that means must be good shit.” | | 25:49 | Eva Longoria | “He [Bush] was the president that got closest to immigration reform...” | | 26:32 | Eva Longoria | “I've never met a cow I don't like.” |

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Episode Structure and Flow

1. Directing Comedy in Hollywood – Eva’s challenges and victories stepping behind the camera (01:56–09:47)
2. Living Across Cultures – Bicoastal life, politics, and belonging (10:03–14:39)
3. Travel & Family Bonds – Honoring family through travel, and stories about Jesse’s mom (15:35–16:36)
4. Food, Identity & “Searching For” – Food as bridge-builder, “Searching for Mexico”/Spain/France (16:36–19:14)
5. Cultural Authenticity on TV – The importance of true-to-root Latinx representation (22:45–24:31)
6. Roots & Ranch Life – Texas pride and honest talk about former presidents, family, and ranching (25:34–26:58)

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Creative vulnerability is universal—even the most successful feel imposter syndrome and lean on their support networks.
• Food is a powerful connector between peoples and identities, with history baked into daily breads and street eats.
• Representation matters in film and TV, and authentic adaptation brings depth to cultural storytelling.
• Political climates impact personal lives, especially for families with marginalized identities.
• Travel and family memories are forms of legacy and healing.
• Ask questions, admit what you don't know, and collaborate—especially in creative work.
• Humor and good food make even weighty topics approachable.

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Bonus: Must-Visit Mexico City Spots (per Eva)

• Taco Tasting Room: Historic district, omakase-style, 14 seats, no menu.
• Maximo and Rosetta: For world-class food and pastries.

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Next Up on Dinner’s on Me

Guest: Michael Kors — fashion icon, designer, accessories king, and Project Runway judge.

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Transcript

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

You know those meals that just immediately take you somewhere? Like, you take one bite and suddenly you're transported to a backyard. Someone's manning the fryer, and everyone's waiting for a taste. That's exactly what Boar's Head has managed to do. But at your deli counter, new from Boar's Head, the Fryer's turkey breast has the taste of deep fried turkey. And I mean, it's perfectly seasoned. That golden, savory flavor. It really does that thing where one bite kind of takes over and you're like, oh, okay, this is what we're doing now. And the best part, you don't have to host anything. You don't have to fry anything. You don't have to politely ask someone else to handle the hot oil, which, frankly, I'm always happy to avoid. It's just there at the deli, ready to go. So if you're putting together a sandwich or just standing at the counter deciding what kind of day you're going to have, the Fryer's turkey breast is a pretty great choice. Discover the craftsmanship behind every bite at your local Boar's Head deli counter. Boar's Head, committed to crafts since 1905. So good, so good, so good.

[Eva Longoria]

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[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Hey, it's Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Here's a little side dish from this week's episode of Dinner's on Me. This week's guest is Eva Longoria. You know her from Desperate Housewives and searching for France on cnn. We met up at Cuckoo in West Hollywood. Now to get back into the conversation, you're pulling up a chair as Eva tells me about the upcoming Netflix comedy she's directing, the Fifth Wheel,

[Eva Longoria]

Paula Bell, who wrote this movie. I just do it. I love Paula. Paula and Janine.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Are you done with this, by the way?

[Eva Longoria]

I'm in post. Tonight's the Friends and Family.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Oh, my God.

[Eva Longoria]

Had I known they flew in last night because we have our friends and family. And so I was like, hey, guys, let's go to dinner. So we go to dinner and I said, where are you staying? They go, oh, my God, right here. So we finished dinner and I'm like, let me drive you to your hotel. They're like, it's right there. And I'm like, I know, but I feel like we should just try. And they refused. They were like, we're not getting any. Cause they're New Yorkers.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, of course.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Would absolutely do the same.

[Eva Longoria]

I was demanding that they get in the car.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

And did you win that argument? No, no, no.

[Eva Longoria]

But they were on a sidewalk. I was like, okay, okay. But my husband's like that, too. Like, we're both. We were both runners. We don't do it as much anymore. And we moved to Beverly Hills. In the Hills. And he's like, I'm gonna go for a run. I'm like, this is the hills. Like, there's no sidewalks.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

It's all.

[Eva Longoria]

And so he tries to run down Benedict Canyon. He goes back, he's like, I almost got killed. I'm like, yeah, you gotta drive down to where you're gonna go.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Exactly.

[Eva Longoria]

Can't just go for a run.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

No, that's so true. And that's such an L. A. Things like strap your bike on your car and then, like, go to a place where you can ride your bike.

[Eva Longoria]

Yes.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

Put your dog in the car and then go walk him.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's exactly right. Yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

But also, do you know Robert Birdie? Robert Birdie is a interior designer, stylist. He was. He's one of my best friends. He's a New Yorker. And he goes, you know what? In New York, we wear clothes. In la, you guys wear cars. Because that's like, your identity in LA is like, oh, he drives a Porsche. Oh, what a douche. Or, oh, oh, okay. Electric. Great, great. That's a good person or whatever.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

That's how you make your stamp.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah, that's your. That's your impression.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Oh, my God. I want to know what I'm driving.

[Eva Longoria]

Oh, he's driving. Don't say Cybertruck.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

No, just as bad, honestly. And I'm getting rid of it.

[Eva Longoria]

Is it like an Escalade?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

It's a Tesla.

[Eva Longoria]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Same, same. Yeah, I got rid of mine a lot. I got rid of mine long before I got mad at Elon Musk.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

And by the way, that'll show him, he doesn't care.

[Eva Longoria]

He's fine.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

He's fine.

[Eva Longoria]

He's doing just fine without my.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Exactly.

[Eva Longoria]

Tesla. Bye. Thank you so much. No, I got rid of it because I didn't like the new version of it. It's like a race car handle. It's not the Circle One. So I would be like.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Right.

[Eva Longoria]

I Can't find the horn. And I can't. Like, I need to honk at people. I need to. It was very dangerous. But honk, horn, honk. That's the bad thing about Tesla is, like, it. When I live in the hills and some idiot from New York is walking, it's so quiet, and then all of a sudden, then I have to go, babe. And they're like, what the fuck? And I'm like, I know the horn is too loud because the car is so quiet that they don't hear you.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

But also, now these cars, like, they alert you when you're anywhere near anything but that beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And it gives me panic attacks because I'm not a great driver. That sound.

[Eva Longoria]

I ignore that.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

You ignore that?

[Eva Longoria]

I'm like. It's like, beep, beep, beep, beep. And I'm like. I don't even hear it. Is somebody. Is my phone ringing? I could care less.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

My God. No. It gives me. Sends me to a total panic. What have I done? I'm done. What have I done? Oh, my God.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah, that, that. But it was like, Brian, I pitched. I remember pitch it to Brian and to Mark Cherry. And Mark's like, babe, you gotta. You gotta go in there with, like.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Of course.

[Eva Longoria]

You're the only person who can do that. Like, even they thought, like, who else are they gonna get? I'm like, everybody. Everybody went out for that job. All these directors. And I was like, I've never did a movie. I don't know.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yes.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah. And I remember my agent calling me because I had to go in, like, five times. Like, a callback. A callback, a callback. And the last one I come out, my agent called. She goes, how do you feel? I go, God, I'm so scared. And she goes, that you're not going to get it? And I go, no, that I'm going to get it and have to do everything I just said I was going to do.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

No, I was. So I'm. I'm a. I've been asked to direct a feature, and it would be my first, and I have this. I'm so excited about it. I love the script. You know, we're in the casting process now, but I. It's all about, you know, all these ideas that I have that I want to make sure that I can actually do. Execute. Exactly.

[Eva Longoria]

But surround yourself with the people who can execute 100%.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

I mean, Liz Banks is a very close friend of mine, and she's been a real Source of, you know, great advice.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Because she's my.

[Eva Longoria]

She was my source, my mentor when I started directing and, and with. When I did the feature pitch, I was like.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

But just also coming from, you know, being an actor and like, gaining respect and like, she just. She's not a different person when she's in that role, but she is. There's something that's different about her. I don't know how to explain it. She directed me in Cocaine Bear and it's like, oh, this is a different person than my friend that I have acted opposite of. Like she, she has the same sensibility, but like, there's a different, I don't know, authority that she seems to have in this space.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah. She is such a good. I love her as a director. I love her new show. I started watching. She's so good. I love when she plays that asshole. Like, she really. She's an asshole.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah. She's really good at it, isn't she?

[Eva Longoria]

Such a good asshole.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

I know, I know. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Eva tells me about why Mexico City became one of her favorite places in the world. And we get into raising a family during uncertain political times. Okay, be right back. Spring break. Planning at our house is. It's definitely an adventure. Our kids have very strong opinions and they're always on different sides of the spectrum. Beckett has very strong opinions about the ocean. It has to be a certain temperature and the wind has to be blowing a certain way if he's going to get anywhere near it. He doesn't want sand on his feet. Sully, on the other hand, he will roll around in the sand and doesn't care about the water temperature. And he, you know, he could be just sitting amongst seagulls and he's happy. Justin. And just want air conditioning and wi fi. Honestly, juggling all the details of a trip can be very stressful. And while I'm thinking about our plans, I also start thinking about our house while we're away. And it hits me. Maybe we could list our place on Airbnb while we're gone. It always sounds great, but I don't know if I can manage all the details myself. That's where Airbnb's co host network comes in. You can hire a vetted local co host to handle all the behind the scenes details, managing reservations, guest communications, and even provid on site support. So hosting feels manageable even with everything else going on. So if you're traveling this spring, it might be the perfect Time to list your space on Airbnb and maybe earn a little extra cash while you're gone to put toward that extra future. Travel someplace with air conditioning and Wi Fi. If you're ready to host, but could use a little extra help, find a co [e-mail] host.

[Eva Longoria]

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[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

And we're back with more dinners on me.

[Eva Longoria]

But yeah, so we shot in la, which was crazy. I haven't shot in LA in, like, nine years.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

No, nothing shoots here right now.

[Eva Longoria]

Nothing shoots in la. And we also had all these amazing guest stars. Guest stars, Cameos.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

I can't wait to see it. It's big. That seems big. Yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

Feels big for a female comedy to have that budget. Those stars. It's gonna be. People are gonna. It's gonna be an event. People are gonna. Especially women are gonna be like, we've gotta go see it now.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, yeah. When you were shooting that, is that, like, the most time you spent in your life recently? Because I know you are. You're mostly in Spain and Mexico.

[Eva Longoria]

Mexico.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah. Mexico City.

[Eva Longoria]

Mexico City.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

The greatest city.

[Eva Longoria]

Isn't it great?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

The greatest city.

[Eva Longoria]

I have two new places you have to go to.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Tell me. Restaurants.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah, tell me the taco tasting room.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Okay.

[Eva Longoria]

It's almost like a Makasse, but tacos.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Okay.

[Eva Longoria]

So there's no menu.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Oh, I like that.

[Eva Longoria]

They do 10 horses and their tacos from.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

And it's called the taco tasting.

[Eva Longoria]

The taco tasting room.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Okay.

[Eva Longoria]

It is so good. And it's a Centro historico, which is the historic district. District. Only 14 seats. It's a bar, so. It's so good. It's amazing. And I'm sure you've been to Maximo.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Oh, Maximo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Some of the greatest food I've ever had is in Mexico City. Do you know Ellen Bennett by chance?

[Eva Longoria]

Why do I know her?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

She is the founder of Heavily Bennett Aprons.

[Eva Longoria]

Yes, that's why I know her.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure you've crossed paths with some. She got married in Mexico City and I was in.

[Eva Longoria]

Did she marry a Mexican?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

No, she just. She used to live there. She's Mexican and she used to. She used to Live in Mexico City. In fact, she used to read the Powerball numbers on the evening news.

[Eva Longoria]

On the news?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

No way.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

That's like. That's her. That's her, like, party trick is like doing, you know, cuz she, she looks, she looks white. But she worked in kitchens and like all the guys were like, so surprised that she's spoke, you know, fluent Spanish. And her party trick was like, she would do her, like, you know, the Powerball routine for them. It's hilarious. She's great. So, yeah, I was in her wedding in Mexico City, so she was sort of my first exposure to that city. And she just has such a rich relationship with it. So she was able to bring me to all these places. I never would have gone as a tourist. And yeah, I just thought in love with that city.

[Eva Longoria]

It's quite amazing.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Incredible pastries.

[Eva Longoria]

People don't know that the French had conquered French, occupied Mexico for a short amount of time. And in that short amount of time, they brought all the bakers, the French bakers to make French bread, French brioche, French poisson. They. And so a lot of Mexican bread is based in French.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Oh, I didn't know that.

[Eva Longoria]

That's why it's French patisserie and that's why it's incredible. The concha is really a brioche bread that the Mexicans added sugar on. And the bolillo is really a baguette that they made kind of a different version of, but like, it's all they. The French bakers that came during the Maximilian occupation.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

I assume you've been to Rosetta and Roma.

[Eva Longoria]

So good.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, it's so good. I mean, that's some of the best pastries I've ever had.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah, the desserts are coming crazy there.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Incredible. Great art there. Okay, so. So you, where do you live?

[Eva Longoria]

New York.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

I live mostly here, but I go back and forth to New York.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah, well, I. I had already moved to Spain long before, you know, this administration took over. Like, we were already majority there because I was working there so much.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Right.

[Eva Longoria]

And then, you know, the, the politics started changing and things started getting, you know, I guess, further and further away from, I think, American values, you know, democracy being the center of that. And so I felt like, oh, my gosh, what is happening? And then at the same time wanting to stay and fight.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

You know, so I really split my time evenly because I really am so invested in making sure our democracy is alive.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, this is, you know, my home, of course. Yeah, absolutely. But also, you know, I Look, you know, I'm a father of two beautiful boys. I'm in a very public relationship with someone of the same sex, and I little nervous about certain things, and, you know, I just have to look at, you know, the reality of the situation, make sure that I'm smart about my choices.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah. Yes.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

So, yeah. I mean, I certainly love this country so much, and it's, you know, why I was so thrilled to be, you know, in that room at the dnc, to hear, like, the people who love our country just as much as I do speaking so eloquently about it, like, what its potential is.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

You know, it's really inspiring. Yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

What it should be and what it needs to be.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, we get into how travel became a way for Eva to honor her family, why food is the fastest path into understanding a culture, and the surprising story behind the Searching for series. Okay. Be right back. Study and play come together on a Windows 11 PC. And for a limited time, college students get the best of both worlds. Get the unreal college deal. Everything you need to study and play with select Windows 11 PCs. Eligible students get a year of Microsoft 365 Premium and a year of Xbox game pass ultimate with a custom color Xbox wireless controller. Learn [e-mail] studentoffer while supplies last ends June 30th terms at aka Ms. CollegePC. And we're back with more dinners on me.

[Eva Longoria]

I love traveling, and every time I give presents, it's always a trip. I always give, like, for Christmas. My. My sisters, I give them trips. I think that's the best gift is to travel.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

It's so great. My mom, she passed away last year.

[Eva Longoria]

I'm so sorry.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Thank you. She just didn't travel a lot. And she said, you know, when we were planning for her end of life stuff, and I was like, what do you want us. Like, do you have anything that you want us to do?

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

And it was more about, like, after

[Eva Longoria]

she left, like, what do we do?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Where do you want to, like, rest and all that?

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

And she's like, just take me traveling. So obviously we cremated her.

[Eva Longoria]

You're not like, weekend at Bernie's.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, I know. I was like, well, so that's.

[Eva Longoria]

But do you take her everywhere?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

I take a little piece of her everywhere, and I, like, I sprinkle. You know, it's probably illegal, but, like,

[Eva Longoria]

I did not admit that on tape.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's fine. They don't Know where she is. What are they gonna do? What are they gonna do? Come after me.

[Eva Longoria]

That's amazing. Well, that's why I love. I love doing the Searching for franchise is when I started I did Searching for Mexico, Stanley called me and he was like, they want to do it.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Stanley Tucci, too.

[Eva Longoria]

He created it. You know, Stanley created Searching for Italy, and they did a thousand seasons just in Italy because he didn't want to go anywhere else. He's smart, too. He reverse engineered his job. And so they came, he called, and he was like, hey, they're looking to do a spin off. And I was like, I really would love to do Mexico. It's a jewel of a cuisine. But also I want to bridge the gap where the tension is between the US And Mexico, where the same people who are going Taco Tuesday are going, build that wall. Build that wall. And you go, no, no, no, no. There's a correlation. There's a relationship between the culture that is here in the United States that is additive, and it's beautiful. Beautiful. And so that's really why I wanted to do Searching for Mexico, because I think the easiest way into any culture is food. You can go to China and not speak Chinese, but you have a dim sum, and you're like, this is amazing. And you can go to Japan and not speak Japanese, but the food experience, you feel close to the culture.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

That's right.

[Eva Longoria]

You go, I get it. I get it. I get who these people are.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Sense language.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah. And then so I did Spain because I'm Mexican American, so I did Mexico, and then my DNA, I'm from Spain. So I was like, oh, my God, let's do my history in Spain. Went to Asturias and did a whole family thing. And then France, I was married to a Frenchman for a very long time, and it's like my home country. I was definitely French. In another life, I speak French, and

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

so I wasn't French. Your second language Before Spanish.

[Eva Longoria]

Before Spanish. Yeah. I didn't know Spanish. I knew. I knew I spoke English and French, right? Yeah. And so I convinced cnn. I was like, let me do it. I know I have no roots here, but I do have roots here. They were like, okay. And France is just obviously the. We owe so much to the French in fine dining, if not everything. Everything, Everything. Forks coursing out, horses.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Speaking of. Right on cue.

[Eva Longoria]

My God, what sauce is this?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Oh, that smells incredible.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah, it does. Yeah. It has coconut. Okay, let me show you what they do in. Well, you probably know, but you got to take a good one hold on. This is a good one. And I'm going to take this guy out, I'm going to eat him, but I'll eat him in a minute. But what you do is then this is your.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Oh, I don't know that.

[Eva Longoria]

No. And you're supposed to. Well, this is what they do in. In the north of France.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

You use that as, like, pliers and you eat your. Oh, I hadn't. I've never seen that before.

[Eva Longoria]

So you have to use the thing. If you do this in France, I'll be like, oh, how do you know this?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

How do you know how to do these things?

[Eva Longoria]

How do you do this thing? Who told you?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Those are great.

[Eva Longoria]

Okay.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, I like that.

[Eva Longoria]

Little pliers.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

I love that.

[Eva Longoria]

It's so fun. Mm. That's.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

How long does it take you to do a season?

[Eva Longoria]

Three months.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Oh, my. You're there a long time.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah. Three months. Yeah. And I love it because it's like vacation when I do that show. It's vacation for me because they're like, okay, can you eat? Tomorrow you're going to have to eat caviar at the Eiffel Tower with some champagne with. With alonducas. And I'm like, okay. I always forget. I'm like, are we still rolling? I'm not really genuinely eating and, like, chowing down.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

How I feel about this sometimes, you know.

[Eva Longoria]

Yes. You, like, forget you're doing a job.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Right.

[Eva Longoria]

And that's the goal now in life is, like, to make your job something you look forward to.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

And I think, like, just even hearing you talk about asking questions that way is refreshing. I think it's. It's. Honestly, it's. I think a thing for many people when they're trying something new is like, that fear of sounding like you don't know what you're doing. But of course you don't know what you're doing if you're trying something new.

[Eva Longoria]

And I love. I always, like, start with that. Look, I don't know what I'm doing. What I do know is the vision of this film has to be this. Right, Right. We had a lot of. We have a magic show at the end of the Fifth Wheel, and so we were trying to come up with the tricks that worked for camera. That was it special effects? Is it visual effects? Are we erasing wires? Does the cat really disappear? And so we had to get these magician experts to come in and like, okay, right, so there's a cat and he has to make it disappear. I go. And so we always, like, kept punting the magic stuff. And I go, yeah, blah, blah, blah. And then we get to the magic section, which we're gonna figure out. And I would just punt it because I was like, somebody smarter than me is going to figure that out. And so finally we had the magic meeting with the magicians. With the magicians. And I said, pitch me some. Show me some magic. And they go, we could do this. We can make this table levitate. I go, how? And the magicians go, magic. I go, right, Is it fish line? Is it. Is it camera? I just need to know what departments need to start. Are we building? Are we raising it with. On a motor with a little machine? How is this going to levitate? What, like, what is the trick? And then it was special effects. This guy who's like, well, he was on Burt Wonderstone, the mag, the movie. And he's like, you know, when we did with Steve Carell, it was actually an insert and it was somebody else's hands to do this card trick. So it was Steve Carell going, but it was a magician's hands doing the thing with magic. And I go, oh, that could be funny. And then my, my direct, my DP showed me a couple shots from a different movie. And he goes, I think we do it with camera and this. I think we got to do it like, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I go, no, that's not going to work because we need him to do the. Oh, okay. So, like that collabor. I had no idea how we were going to execute the magic. Somebody will know. And then we're going to have a conversation.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

You can't know everything about everything. That's what Liz Banks would always tell me. She's like, there are people who are the heads of their departments because that's their job.

[Eva Longoria]

That's their job. They geek out on it.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

They don't need to know how to do that.

[Eva Longoria]

You don't need to know lenses. You don't need to know 50 to 100 to this.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

And that is refreshing to hear. It's a very famous.

[Eva Longoria]

But that's an ode to the book because the book was so good and successful that mainstream Hollywood made it right. And so I don't. I don't look at that as a bad thing that it was gentrified. It was an ode to Isabel Allende telling a really good story because she's not the best selling Latin author of all time. She's like the bestselling author of all time for that book. And so the property was really valuable, but it fell in My lap. You know, honestly, Film Nation, not Live Nation, Film Nation brought it to me, and they said, you know, we have these two writer filmmakers, Francesca and Fernanda. Writer, director. And we think they're the ones to make it. They'd never made TV before. They'd never been written a TV script, but they were beautiful filmmakers. And they pitched out the book, their vision board to me, and they're like, this is what we want it to look like. And it looked like a painting.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yes.

[Eva Longoria]

Their pitch. So to see it on screen, like, they had a vision and they executed it.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Stunning.

[Eva Longoria]

And it couldn't have been anybody else except those two Chilean women who made it a Chilean story, because the book is based in the Chilean revolution. Like, it's very Chilean specific. The fact that they didn't do that originally was so crazy because I was like, oh, yeah, I guess. I guess they're like, who's the biggest star?

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Right, Right.

[Eva Longoria]

So this time, it's so authentic. It's so beautiful. It's a. It's a. A series, so we can dive into Spanish. And it's in Spanish. And you love it.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

And you love it. You're like, I understand it all.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

And the women are fantastic. The actors. It's a very international cast, too. They're not all Chilean, They're Spaniards. And Mexicans and Colombians and Venezuelans and. And everybody tried to have this neutral Spanish accent, but it's. It's really. I hope more and more people see it, watch it, rate it.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

I want to read the book. I mean, it's such an epic, sweeping, cinematic, you know, series. Like, I can only imagine.

[Eva Longoria]

Well, Isabel Allende, I think it's banned. It's on the book band, you know, Everybody's on the book band. Yes, but you can get it, obviously. But she's like, it's such an honor to have a. Sure.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

When your book is banned, that means must be good shit. Yeah, totally.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah. But, you know, not everywhere, but, like, probably, you know, Texas and Albuquerque, maybe.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Right, Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Although Albuquerque is pretty blue right now.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Oh, that's so interesting. I didn't know that. No.

[Eva Longoria]

You guys have a good governor.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

No, we do. We do. Yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

You guys just passed Universal Health Care or something? Yeah, I did a video for it.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm proud of my state. Listen, everything ebbs and flows. Everything ebbs and flows. Yeah. Yeah. I was born in Montana, so, like, I've done some stuff for them. I've only lived there for a year, and that's been a Tougher.

[Eva Longoria]

No, I'm a Texan through and through. I'm actually a really proud Texan because the history has gone in and out. And I always feel like when Bush was president and people didn't give him a fair shake, and now we wish we had a Bush in office.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Right?

[Eva Longoria]

But he was lovely. George W. Was lovely. He was the president that got closest to immigration reform than any other president in the history of our nation. He really understood immigrant labor in markets that we needed, in industries that we needed. And he was like, we've got to have a guest worker program. Because being from Texas, he saw it. He saw firsthand, like, we need to figure out how to legalize this population. So I always, you know, I met. My whole family was Bush supporters. My mom, my dad, they were.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

You saw family, Texas.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah. Everybody's in Texas. Yeah.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

So you go back a lot?

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah, yeah, I was just back. Yeah. Mother's Day.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Eva Longoria]

Yeah.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Do you like that ranch life? Are they still on the road?

[Eva Longoria]

I do. We're in the. We're in San Antonio now. But no, I don't. I've never met a cow I don't like.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

Really?

[Eva Longoria]

Chickens, like. And in searching for France, it's so funny because they're always like, so today you might have to milk a cow. Not milk. You might have to be with cows. He might ask you to milk it. Don't worry, you don't have to. I'm like, honey, I'll milk a cow. I'll collect the eggs from the chickens. Like, that's how I grew up. I love ranch life.

[Jesse Tyler Ferguson]

That was more from my conversation with Eva Longoria. If you haven't heard our full conversation yet, make sure to check it out on Dinners On Me. This episode of Dinners On Me was recorded at Cuckoo in West Hollywood, California. Next week on Dinners On Me. You know him as fashion icon, designer, accessories king, and from his days judging Project Runway, it's Michael Kors. We'll get into becoming fashion obsessed at a young age. I mean, he had notes as a five year old for his mom's wedding dress and what it's like to see his name on handbags everywhere on a daily basis. Dinners on Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Behr engineered this episode. Hans Dale. She composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tameka Balance Kolasny and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail]

[Eva Longoria]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail].