Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist – Eva Longoria Opens Up About Turning 50, “Desperate Housewives,” and Creating Casa Del Sol

Original Air Date: September 14, 2025
Podcast Host: Willie Geist
Guest: Eva Longoria

Episode Overview

Willie Geist sits down for an uplifting, candid, and often hilarious conversation with Eva Longoria as she approaches her 50th birthday. The talk covers Eva’s journey from a rural Texas ranch to Hollywood fame, her milestone birthday philosophy, acting and directing highlights, family, cultural identity, philanthropy, and her entrepreneurial ventures—including her tequila brand, Casa Del Sol. They finish by making strawberry-mint margaritas together, embodying Eva’s infectious zest for life.

Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. Turning 50: Philosophy and Reflections

• Eva’s take on aging:
  Eva expresses excitement rather than apprehension about turning 50, describing it as “just a number” and something she looks forward to (04:10). She’s always been future-focused and high-spirited, embracing every decade with optimism.

  “For me, it's just a number. And I've always looked forward to being older...I really, always in, my glass is half full...50 is just like that.” – Eva (04:10)

• Emotional stock-taking at 50:
  Eva emphasizes the importance of curating experiences and people in her life now, focusing less on saying ‘yes’ to everything and more on thoughtfully choosing what matters:

  “I think the second half of my life will be about saying no and just really curating my experiences, curating my people and making those moments more special.” – Eva (05:03)

2. Family & Representation in Hollywood

• Starring in a family movie for Disney:
  Eva discusses starring in the new Disney+ family adventure, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip. She enjoys projects she can watch with her six-year-old son and values positive Latino representation:

  “It just happens to be a Latino family. So that representation also was something I was really proud of...to be in a movie that lives in joy and lives in family...That's what I want to do. Sign me up.” – Eva (09:09)

• Impact on son and legacy movies:
  Eva reflects on the rarity of wholesome, fun family films today, citing classics her son enjoys, like The Sandlot and Goonies (10:25).

3. “Searching for Spain” & Cultural Roots

• Travel series inspiration:
  Eva shares how Searching for Spain was inspired by Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy and her own prior series, Searching for Mexico. She reverse-engineered her dream job—being paid to explore food and culture globally:

  “I want to eat and drink my way through the world. I'm going to get a show that pays me to do that.” – Eva (13:35)

• Purpose behind showcasing Mexico and Spain:
  She discusses using food series to combat stereotypes and broaden perspectives of Mexico in particular:

  “I wanted to help repair [Mexico’s image], and it did. A lot of people came out of Searching for Mexico going, ‘I had no idea how diverse, stunning, beautiful...’ Because when you're talking about the food of a culture, you're talking about its people.” – Eva (14:05)

• Personal genealogical journey:
  Eva recounts her family lineage from Spain to Texas, exploring identity complexities as a Mexican-American of Spanish descent. She emphasizes pride in all aspects of her roots (16:41–18:31).

4. Early Life and Path to Hollywood

• Childhood on a Texas ranch:
  Eva’s upbringing was rural and grounded, filled with chores, barefoot adventures, and seasonal eating (21:22–23:20). She attributes her practical resourcefulness and values to this experience.

• Path to acting:
  She never dreamed of Hollywood as a child and entered a scholarship pageant at 21 for college funds. Winning led her to another pageant and ultimately a trip to Hollywood—where she decided, somewhat impulsively and naively, to try acting, approaching it with a business mindset (23:43–26:14).

  “I didn't go like, oh, look, Salma Hayek...My role models in life were my mom, my sisters...I land in Hollywood and...I think I'm going to be an actor.” – Eva (26:14)

• Breaking into television:
  Eva details the incremental, persistent process: two years as an extra, then minor roles, leading up to her first major success on Desperate Housewives (28:02–29:32).

5. Fame, Media, and Social Pressures

• Experiencing sudden celebrity:
  The explosion of Desperate Housewives brought new challenges—paparazzi, a lack of privacy, and a shift in media dynamics as technology changed. Eva compares the paparazzi-centric era of the mid-2000s with today's social media saturation (30:32–32:21).

• Social media and self-esteem:
  Eva and Willie discuss the pitfalls of social media for youth, especially girls, and the resulting FOMO, unrealistic beauty standards, and perceived inequality (33:13–34:45).

  “It's brought more to—in your face, as opposed to before when we kind of happily lived with, like, isn't everybody on my block living...We all live the same.” – Willie (33:35)

6. Producing, Directing, and Creating Opportunities

• Producer-director at heart:
  Eva reveals she always gravitated toward producing and directing, even before acting, appreciating the control and opportunity creation those roles allow (37:40). She’s passionate about lifting up other talents and providing access and infrastructure, especially for Latina women:

  "Some people have the talent and not the access...So really, building that infrastructure for them to get there easier is really exciting to me." – Eva (39:21)

• Flamin’ Hot:
  Discusses the gratification and cultural impact of her acclaimed (directorial debut) film and its role as a Latino pop culture touchstone (39:45–41:10).

7. The Eva Longoria Foundation and Philanthropy

• Philanthropic mission:
  Eva talks about the expansion of her foundation, focused on empowering women through education and entrepreneurship, and her recent million-dollar donation to support wildfire recovery “second responders.”

  "If you help a woman, she helps her family. If she helps her family, it improves communities, and so on and so on..." – Eva (42:30)

• Receiving the Bezos-Sanchez Award:
  Describes the transformative $50 million Civility Award which allows her foundation to scale its impact (41:44).

8. Entrepreneurship: Casa Del Sol Tequila

• Birth of the brand:
  Eva explains launching her tequila venture, emphasizing Casa Del Sol’s unique aging process (in cognac barrels) and its female master distiller (50:27–51:43).

• Social impact:
  Employment opportunities for women in Mexico, such as crafting the vegan leather neck for the bottle, are highlighted as intentional, woman-centric company values (51:47–52:31).

  “Whenever the DNA of the company is founded by a woman, there's a lot of things we do different.” – Eva (52:30)

Memorable Quotes

• On thriving at 50:
  “I want to age well. And I think with, like, technology and modern medicine, we're gonna live longer. So it's about how many of those years will I be healthy and agile and mobile.” – Eva Longoria (04:40)

• On saying ‘no’:
  “I am of the philosophy of say yes...But I think the second half of my life will be about saying no and just really curating my experiences...” – Eva Longoria (05:03)

• On representation:
  “I don’t walk through the world that way...So to be able to be in a movie that lives in joy and lives in family...that’s what I want to do.” – Eva Longoria (09:19)

• On building bridges in Hollywood:
  “Some people have the talent and not the access...building that infrastructure for them to get there is really exciting to me.” – Eva Longoria (39:22)

• On identity:
  “Not feeling American enough, not feeling Mexican enough...my family was under five different flags without ever moving...we never crossed a border, the border crossed us.” – Eva Longoria (17:56)

• On philanthropy:
  “If you help a woman, she helps her family. If she helps her family, it improves communities, and so on and so on.” – Eva Longoria (42:30)

• On tequila:
  “Tequila is an art. It’s like really one of the oldest traditions in Mexico. It’s the greatest, you know, ambassador of the country.” – Eva Longoria (51:45)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:41] Toasting 50 with Margaritas: Birthday talk and Eva’s approach to aging.
• [07:08] Family Movies and Representation: Discussion of the Disney project and importance of Latino joy in media.
• [12:27] “Searching for Spain” & Food as Cultural Activism: Behind the series and Eva’s intentions.
• [16:41] Exploring Genealogy: Eva traces her family’s journey from Spain to Texas.
• [21:22] Childhood on the Ranch: Rural upbringing, family values, and food traditions.
• [23:43] Accidental Acting Career: Winning a pageant, Los Angeles, and breaking into Hollywood.
• [28:02] The Rise to Fame: Early TV jobs to Desperate Housewives stardom.
• [30:32] Dealing with Fame and Privacy: Paparazzi, shifting media landscape, and social media challenges.
• [37:40] Directing and Producing: Early behind-the-scenes roles and empowering underrepresented voices.
• [39:45] Flamin’ Hot and Storytelling: Directorial debut, cultural significance.
• [41:28] Eva Longoria Foundation and Wildfire Support: Philanthropy, Bezos Award.
• [45:49] Casa Del Sol Tequila – Margarita Making: Strawberry mint margaritas, tequila trivia, and business as social impact.

Memorable Moments

• Eva’s Margarita Philosophy:
  “As I've learned, margarita is agave, lime, and tequila. That's all it is…It's like a vinaigrette.” (46:09)
• Introducing Beyonce to Tajin:
  “I introduced her to it, and then years later...she goes, tahin has changed my life.” (48:15)
• On entrepreneurial joy:
  “I love building things, whether it’s a brand, whether I’m cooking...and tequila is an art.” (51:45)
• Groundedness from upbringing:
  “Anyone who's known me for 30 years will tell you, I'm the exact same person I was then and I am now...I have a nicer house, I have a lot of shoes.” (29:32)

Final Thoughts

This episode offers not only a celebration of Eva Longoria’s career milestones and 50th birthday but also an inspiring portrait of a woman who relishes growth, cherishes her cultural heritage, and uses her platform to advance representation and empower others. Her humor and openness make the conversation lively, while her practical wisdom and big-hearted approach to philanthropy and entrepreneurship shine through.

For more candid, insightful conversations, subscribe to “Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist” or tune in to Sunday TODAY on NBC.