he actress, director, and media powerhouse opens up about her glam rituals, latest creative ventures, and why Cannes still feels like home after two decades.
A red-carpet veteran, unfazed by the rules
After twenty years of attending the Cannes Film Festival, Eva Longoria is nothing short of a pro. From her first visit as a rising star to now commanding the spotlight as an actress, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and activist, she returns each year with a refined confidence. This year, despite a last-minute update to the Cannes dress code, Longoria remained unshaken. With stylist Maeve Reilly by her side, she arrived fully prepared—and most importantly, fully dressed to impress.
Her Tamara Ralph couture gown, which featured a playful “baby train,” breezed past the event’s fashion guidelines with ease, garnering admiration at the festival’s opening ceremony. But this was just the beginning of a whirlwind schedule that included stops at the Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning premiere, the 10-year anniversary celebration of iconic Cannes restaurant La Môme, and a L’Oréal dinner, among other high-profile events. On Sunday night, she walked the red carpet for Wes Anderson’s highly anticipated The Phoenician Scheme—before hosting an exclusive beachside soirée for Nespresso, a brand she now represents with palpable enthusiasm.
“I like to be sexy, but classic,” Longoria shares, reflecting on her signature aesthetic. For the Nespresso after-party, she swapped her glittering pink gown for a sleek charcoal Coperni dress from the brand’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection, complete with a sculptural metallic halter neckline and silver Aquazzura heels. Makeup artist Elan Bongiorno and hairstylist Stephane Lancien delivered an effortlessly polished finish. “It’s definitely a conversation of 80 people,” she jokes about her red-carpet looks. “I just sit there like a Barbie.” And in true Cannes fashion, she ran on little sleep and a lot of espresso—eight to ten shots daily, she laughs, not counting the Tequilatini cocktails served late into the night.
Behind the camera: A director on a mission
Though she dazzles on the carpet, Longoria’s greatest ambitions lie behind the lens. Her 2023 directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot, was a heartfelt, humor-tinged biopic about the Frito Lay janitor who inspired the spicy snack that became a cultural phenomenon. While the film premiered at South by Southwest, Longoria had once hoped to bring it to Cannes. “It was such an American story,” she explains. “Cannes is a different platform, but it’s always been a dream to premiere something here.”
That dream might not be far off. Longoria just announced her next film project, The Fifth Wheel, a “big, fat female comedy” written by Paula Pell (Girls5Eva), with Kim Kardashian set to star and co-produce. Describing it as “laugh-out-loud funny,” Longoria is clearly energized. “Comedy is like my superpower,” she says. “It’s going to be fun to push the limits. With the actors we have, I’m excited to flex my comedy wings.”
Production begins in August, and while most of the ensemble remains under wraps, the project signals Longoria’s growing influence as a filmmaker unafraid to mix humor with heart.
Searching for stories and herself
Outside the movie sets and premieres, Longoria has also become a globe-trotting cultural curator. Her CNN travel docuseries Searching For will next turn its lens on France, with an upcoming season slated for release in 2026. It’s a deeply personal project, as previous seasons (Searching for Mexico, Searching for Spain) have explored her ancestral roots.
But France, she insists, holds a special place in her heart. “I’ve had such a life here in my nine lives,” she muses, referencing her marriage to French basketball star Tony Parker and her two-decade relationship with L’Oréal in Cannes. The upcoming season will include stops in Paris, Brittany, Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Provence—highlighting not just famous landmarks but the cultural identity of each region. “I can’t wait for the pastry episode in Paris,” she teases.
Future seasons may take her even further from home, and she’s eager to explore countries with no familial connection, but a deep curiosity. “I definitely have an interest in discovering places beyond my own heritage,” she says.
Building a latin media empire
Whether she’s behind the camera, in front of it, or producing from afar, Longoria’s mission is rooted in a single through line: championing Latin voices in media. Her production company, Hyphenate Media Group, has several upcoming projects in the pipeline, including a Hulu adaptation of Confessions on the 7:45 starring Jessica Alba, a new series for AMC titled Say Hello to My Little Friend, and even a spin-off of Welcome to Wrexham that follows Mexico’s Club Necaxa—a team Longoria co-owns.
Most ambitiously, she is adapting Isabel Allende’s beloved novel The House of the Spirits into an eight-part series for Prime Video. “I’ve always loved the book,” she says. “It was done 30 years ago with no Latinos. This time, we’re doing it in Chile, where the book is set, with two amazing Chilean female filmmakers [Francisca Alegria and Fernanda Urrejola]. It’s going to be made the way it was intended to be made.”
Her goal is clear: to foster an ecosystem where Latin talent can rise. “We should be our own storytellers,” Longoria insists. “Not wait for Hollywood to decide when our stories matter.”
Mentorship, legacy and what’s next
As someone who has long benefited from mentorship, Longoria knows the power of lifting others up. She cites ELLE Editor-in-Chief Nina Garcia as a major inspiration. “To be a Latina in the publishing world—she’s such a role model,” Longoria says. She also applauds filmmakers like Patty Jenkins, Ava DuVernay, and Patricia Riggen for blazing trails behind the camera. And while her résumé is long and her schedule relentless, Longoria sees this phase of her life as not just one of creativity—but of entrepreneurship and legacy. “Even as I’m directing and producing, it still has an entrepreneurial approach. I love creating jobs. I want to create opportunities.”
Still, she remains ever-hopeful, ever-evolving. “I definitely refuse to believe my greatest success is behind me,” she says. “I really think it’s going to be ahead of me.” From Cannes to Chile, from comedy to couture, Eva Longoria is redefining what it means to be a modern storyteller—one espresso at a time.
