April 10, 2026, 1:25 p.m. ET
Before making it big, Eva Longoria had a side hustle.
The Golden Globe-nominated actress opened up about juggling two jobs during her early acting career in an interview with Fortune magazine published Friday, April 10.
“The first day I landed in LA, I got a job,” Longoria, 51, told the magazine. “I was like, ‘I’m not going to be a struggling actor.’ I’m going to figure this out.”
Longoria attended Texas A&M University–Kingsville, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. In March 1998, the Corpus Christi, Texas, native won the Miss Corpus Christi beauty pageant, which led to her competing in another talent show in Los Angeles. The experience inspired her to move to California to pursue an acting career.
After scoring guest appearances on “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “General Hospital,” Longoria landed her first regular role as Isabella Braña on the soap opera “The Young and the Restless.”
Despite that breakthrough moment, Longoria said she maintained a part-time job as a headhunter to stay financial secure.
“In my dressing room, I was doing the headhunting,” Longoria told Fortune. “I was negotiating 401(k)s and salaries and interviewing and reading résumés and placing people. And then they would be like, ‘Eva, ready on set.'”
Longoria made the jump to full-time actress during her third year on “The Young and the Restless” after she received a salary raise. “I knew I could always go back to corporate America if acting didn’t work out,” she added.
She went on to star in the CBS soap opera “Desperate Housewives,” an Emmy-winning dramedy that ran for eight years and earned Longoria a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as Gabrielle Solis.
Longoria had a promising career as a headhunter, and her boss tried to talk her out of acting. But the Hollywood veteran, who now has over 70 screen credits, recognized the corporate gig wasn’t her “calling.”
“Everybody was surprised because I built this small business within his business,” Longoria said. “And he kept saying, ‘Why would you want to be an actress? You’re so good at business, it’s a one-in-a-million chance you’re going to be successful at acting.’ And I said, ‘I know — and I’m the one in a million.'”
