Eva Longoria’s name brings back nostalgic memories of waiting for the weekend to arrive just so you could finally get your weekly fix of Desperate Housewives (2004-2012), doesn’t it? Or maybe you remember watching her on the big screen with your high school buds and a big tub of popcorn for company.
No matter when you first discovered her, you have to admit that Eva Longoria is pretty iconic. And if her long and successful career wasn’t impressive enough, she’s also a well-known philanthropist.
Let’s go back in time and trace Eva Longoria’s early life and career, with her high school yearbook photos peppered in.
Who is Eva Longoria?
Eva Jacqueline Longoria Baston (born 15 March, 1975) is an American actress, film producer, director, and philanthropist. She spent her childhood and teenage years in Corpus Christi, Texas, and graduated high school in 1993. As of 2025, Eva is 50 years old.
Her career began when she took part in a pageant and bagged the spot of Miss Corpus Christi in 1998. Along with her crown, the pageant gave a young Eva Longoria the opportunity to compete in a modeling and talent competition in LA. After the competition, she had agents clamoring to represent her, which, ultimately, led to her first ever TV appearance: a guest spot on a 1999 episode of Beverly Hills 90210.
In addition to her Hollywood career, Eva is also the founder of two charities, namely Eva’s Heroes and the Eva Longoria Foundation. Her contributions have earned her the 2009 Philanthropist of the Year by The Hollywood Reporter.
When Did Eva Longoria Go to School?
School Education
A young Eva Longoria attended Marvin P. Baker middle school and graduated from Roy Miller High School, Texas in 1993. Before she became the Eva Longoria that we know and admire today, she was a Miller cheerleader and the head drum major for her school’s marching band.
Eva was also quite the athlete and played not one, not two, but three different sports as a teenager in high school: basketball, track, and gymnastics. Talk about overachieving!
College Education
After graduating high school, she went on to get a Bachelor’s in Kinesiology at Texas A&M – Kingsville on a cheerleading scholarship. Eva also holds a Master’s in Chicano Studies from California State University, Northridge.
What Does She Look Like Today? Eva Longoria Then vs. Now
What is Eva Longoria Known For?
Early Career
After dipping her toes into the world of showbiz through Beverly Hills 90210 (1999), Eva bagged a guest appearance in General Hospital that very year. This worked as a stepping stone, getting her a contract on CBS’s Daytime soap, The Young and the Restless, where she played the part of Isabella Brana Williams from 2001-2003.
In 2004 she was cast as Gabrielle Solis, one of the main characters in Desperate Housewives (2004-2012). It was this character that shot her to fame.
Best-Known Roles
Beyond playing Gabrielle Solis, Eva is known for her roles in Telenovela (2015-2016), Decline and Fall (2017), Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019), Rita Moreno (2021), Land of Women (2024), and Only Murders in the Building (2024), where she plays herself.
Director and Producer
Eva also wears the hat of a director and a producer. Her directorial portfolio includes the biographical Flamin’ Hot (2023), Out of the Blue (2013), and a few episodes of Black-ish, Jane the Virgin, and The Mick. She’s also set to direct Anita de Monte Laughs Last, a movie based on a book by the same name.
Eva’s most notable productions include John Wick (2014), Mother Up! (2013), Telenovela (2015-2016), Land of Women (2024), and her documentaries Searching for Mexico and Searching for Spain.
What Awards Has Eva Longoria Won?
Eva’s shelves are filled with a variety of awards that recognize and celebrate her both as an actress and a director/ producer. They include:
- Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama: For Desperate Housewives – 2002 ALMA Awards
- Choice Breakout Performance – Female: For Desperate Housewives – 2005 Teen Choice Awards
- Favorite New TV Drama: For Desperate Housewives – 2005 People’s Choice Awards
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: She won this award by the Screen Actors Guild Awards multiple times — in 2005 and 2006 for Desperate Housewives, and in 2025 for Only Murders in the Building.
- TV Series International Awards: For Desperate Housewives – 2005 Bambi Awards
- Person of the Year: For her accomplishments as a Latina in Television – 2006 ALMA Awards
- Favorite Female TV Star: For Desperate Housewives – 2007 People’s Choice Awards
- Special Achievement in Film: For her contributions to Television – 2018 ALMA Awards
- Best Actress – Film: For Overboard – 2018 Imagen Awards
- Breakthrough Director – Film: For Flamin’ Hot – 2023 Celebration of Cinema and Television Awards
- Best Feature Film and Best Director: For Flamin’ Hot – 2023 Imagen Awards
- Directors to Watch: For Flamin’ Hot – 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festivals Awards
Eva has also been nominated for the Golden Globes and Daytime Emmy Awards.
Who Are Eva Longoria’s Parents and Siblings?
Eva was raised by her Tejano parents Ella Eva Mireles and Enrique Longoria Jr. as a ninth-generation Mexican-American.
She has three older sisters, namely Elizabeth (“Liza”), Esmeralda, and Emily. She grew up on a farm with a rancher for a dad. Liza was born with an intellectual disability which spurred her mother to train as a special needs teacher.
Her oldest sister is also the reason that Eva founded “Eva’s Heroes,” a charity organization dedicated to helping people with special needs.
Who is Eva Longoria’s Husband?
Eva has been married to Jose Antonio (“Pepe”) Baston, a Mexican businessman and producer, since 2016. She has a son with him named Santiago (Santi) Enrique Baston, who was born in 2018.
What Other Celebrities Has Eva Longoria Dated and Married?
As a self-proclaimed “hopeless romantic,” Eva Longia’s romantic life has been as high-profile as the actress herself.
Eva’s past relationships (and marriages) include:
- Tyler Christopher: Eva was married to Tyler, a fellow General Hospital co-star from 2002-2004.
- Hayden Christensen: Eva had a brief fling with this Canadian actor in 2004 following her first divorce.
- Joshua Scott “JC” Chasez: After splitting up with Hayden, Eva dated JC Chasez for about eight months in 2004, even attending the Emmy awards together. You may know him as the singer-songwriter from NSYNC.
- Tony Parker: Eva met the San Antonio Spurs basketball player in 2004 and married him in 2007. They got divorced in 2011 following infidelity accusations.
- Eduardo Cruz: Eva and this Spanish singer (who’s also Penelope Cruz’s brother) were together for about a year around 2011-2012 following her second divorce.
- Mark Sanchez: In 2012, Eva dated this former New York Jets player. Rumor has it that their fling went up in flames because Sanchez was always grumpy as the Jets took hit after hit.
- Ernesto Arguello: Eva dated this TV personality for about four months in 2012 before they split up due to differing schedules.
Where Does Eva Longoria Live?
In November, 2024, Eva revealed that she had left the US with her husband and son. Her family currently divides their time between Mexico and Spain. Though Eva didn’t learn Spanish till she was 34, her son is growing up with it as his first language. And he often makes fun of her Spanish.
Work often sees Eva and her husband traveling between Europe and South America, with the occasional visit to North America. If you’ve been following Eva on the tabloids closely, this may come as no surprise to you, but the actress said that she rarely, if ever, shoots in LA anymore!
Does Eva Longoria Have Social Media?
Yes, Eva Longoria is quite an icon on social media. Her posts contain a mixture of personal and professional updates, as well as information about her charity work. You’ll also find her raising her voice on various social and political issues, such as freedom of speech and immigrants rights.
Keep up with her here:
- Instagram (10.8 M followers, as of October 2025)
- Twitter/ X (6.2 M followers)
- Facebook (6.4 M followers)
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Sources:
- https://beverlyhillscourier.com/2023/11/16/eva-longoria-redefines-star-power/
- https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/thr-honors-eva-longoria-parker-91332/
- https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/eva_longoria
- https://www.instyle.com/eva-longoria-son-santiago-baston-11789846
- https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/eva-longoria-nov-2024-cover/
- Classmates® 1992 Miller High School Yearbook, p. 164. https://www.classmates.com/siteui/yearbooks/259010?page=176
- Classmates® 1992 Miller High School Yearbook, p. 94. https://www.classmates.com/siteui/yearbooks/259010?page=98
- Then – Classmates® 1992 Miller High School Yearbook, p. 132. https://www.classmates.com/siteui/yearbooks/259010?page=136&searchTerm=eva
- Now – Hispanic Lifestyle, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eva_Longoria_2012.jpg
- ImagineCup, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eva_Longoria_4,_2011.jpg
- Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eva_Longoria-1384.jpg
- Rafael Amado Deras, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Actress_Eva_Longoria.jpg
