Essential Viewing: 11 Eva Longoria Movies and TV Shows You Must See

You know you love her, and why wouldn't you?

Eva Longoria is not only a talented actress who chooses projects that speak not just to her amazing acting talent but resonate with her heart in a way that shows in her performances.

She may have gotten recognition from her role on a drama-dripping soap opera with a cast of actors who have no right to be as attractive as they are talented, but Longoria has proven she is so much more than a pretty face and a smile that could melt steel.

With wins from the Screen Actors Guild and the People's Choice, the actress is a familiar face who has been entertaining folks since the start of the millennium.

If this fantastic woman hasn't won you over yet, do a quick search of her to see how she brings thousands of dollars to charities and foundations that help impoverished communities and immigrants worldwide.

Now, get ready to put a smile on that face because Eva Longoria has a whole lot of heart and humor coming your way with some of her best work to date, including a little upcoming role that we at TV Fanatic are at the edge of our seats to watch!

Overboard (2018)

Role: Theresa. Available for rent or purchase.

While the original Overboard with Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn has become somewhat problematic, somehow switching the gender roles of the story and adding Anna Faris made the film more relatable while pushing the comedy past what the original achieved.

Kate is a single, working-class mother of three hired to clean a luxury yacht that belongs to Leonardo, a selfish, spoiled, and wealthy Mexican playboy.

After unjustly firing Kate, Leonardo falls off the boat and wakes up without remembering who he is. To get payback, Kate shows up at the hospital and convinces the confused amnesiac that they're married.

As Leonardo gets used to manual labor and his new family, Kate wonders how long she can keep fooling her fake husband.

Despite what critics might have you believe with the movie's low RT score, this is still a story worth watching with some timeless themes and messages.

Eva Longoria takes a backseat as a wise-cracking sidekick friend willing to throw herself under the bus to save Anna Faris's character, and the film is all the better for her performance, which grounds the otherwise zany Faris.

Cast: Eugenio Derbez (Acapulco), Anna Faris (Mom), Mel Rodriguez (The Afterparty), Alyvia Alyn Lind (Chucky), John Hannah (Transplant), Swoosie Kurtz (Mike & Molly), Josh Segarra (Abbott Elementary)

For more physical comedy and lies with a countdown till the truth bomb, check out the hilarious and lovable character stuck in the afterlife on The Good Place, streaming on Netflix.

Dog Days (2018)

Role: Grace. Available to watch on The CW.

Honestly, this movie looks like every television network got together and dropped in an actor from each of their respective shows because I can't remember the last time I saw a cast list with so many familiar small screen faces.

Elizabeth is a charming anchorwoman who seeks advice from her dog's therapist. Tara is a spunky barista who dreams of a life beyond the coffee shop.

Daisy is a dog walker who's enamored with a client. Garrett pines for a woman while trying to keep his adopt-a-dog business afloat.

The beloved canines in their lives soon start to influence their careers, friendships, and romantic relationships in funny and unexpected ways.

Sure, it's a romantic comedy, but there's one thing even critics can't deny, and that's the power of a pooch, which may be why this movie received some solid reviews. I'm sure the actors were great, too, but we're really here for the canine companions.

Eva Longoria deviates from comedy to play Grace, a mother who serves up heart in heaps with more love for her child than she can sometimes handle.

Cast: Vanessa Hudgens (Powerless), Michael Cassidy (Good Trouble), Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), Tone Bell (Truth Be Told), Adam Pally (Happy Endings), Thomas Lennon (Santa Clarita Diet), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Tig Notaro (Star Trek: Discovery)

You don't need to trek to the theater to get your romantic comedy fix, as Netflix has got you covered with the hilarious and sweet series Emily in Paris starring Lily Collins.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)

Role: Elena Marquez. Available to watch on Paramount+.

You're probably wondering why we would include a movie clearly intended for kids on a list of titles geared toward adults, and all that can be said is that you answered your own question. We're here to serve up a little something for everyone.

Even though it's based on a popular children's animated show, this live-action adaptation bridges the generational gap. Anyone of any age will love this wild ride of Hispanic proportions.

Having spent most of her life exploring the jungle, nothing could prepare Dora for her most dangerous adventure yet -- high school.

Accompanied by a ragtag group of teens and Boots the Monkey, Dora embarks on a quest to save her parents while trying to solve the seemingly impossible mystery behind a lost Incan civilization.

If you need the critic's input before landing on whether to watch something, you may be in for a surprise to find out that this movie is just as beloved by reviewers as it is by the audience that left the theaters likely with smiles still on their faces from this certified fresh film.

Elena checks all the boxes of the stereotypical loving mother, offering compassion and solid advice while whipping up baked goods, but then again, her character is based on a cartoon.

Cast: Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Eugenio (Acapulco), Michael Pena (Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan), Jeff Wahlberg (The Girl from Plainville), Madeleine Madden (The Wheel of Time), Temuera Morrison (Ahsoka), Danny Trejo (RZR), Benicio del Toro (Escape at Dannemora)

For more precocious children in the most obscure and unexpected situations, catch up with the Baudelaire children in Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events, streaming on Netflix.

Unplugging (2022)

Role: Jeanine Dewerson. Available to watch on Hulu.

Listen, we are all for reconnecting with nature and your loved ones as much as possible, but for God's sake, have some backup plan, like a life alert.

To revive their marriage and reconnect, a couple takes a self-prescribed digital detox weekend to a remote mountain town. What starts as a perfect weekend getaway without technology quickly spirals out of control.

Sure, not every project can be a hit, but that doesn't mean there aren't genuine laughs to be had in this comedy, especially when you bring together a few faces known for their funny film and television performances.

The best way to describe Jeanine is by saying she is a workaholic wound so tightly that if you placed a rock squarely between her cheeks, you'd have a diamond by the morning because this type A character truly needs unplugging.

Cast: Matt Walsh (Veep), Lea Thompson (The Spencer Sisters), Keith David (From Scratch), Nicole Byer (Velma), Al Madrigal (Lopez vs. Lopez), Johnny Pemberton (Fallout), Hala Finley (Magnum PI), Morgan Walsh (Games People Play)

Technology certainly has a way of embedding itself into our lives, and to see how it can carry on with us into the afterlife, catch Robbie Amell in the fresh take on virtual in Upload, available on Amazon Prime Video.

The Young and the Restless (2001-2003)

Role: Isabella Brana. Available to stream on Paramount+.

Soap opera actors must have excellent medical insurance because it has to be murder on the neck to whip your head around dramatically, but how else are they supposed to get across how serious they're being on The Young and The Restless?

I guess they could always shoot someone. That seems to be a popular plot device in these drama-drenched series with actors so handsome and beautiful -- it's like looking into the sun.

The Newmans and the Abbotts represent Genoa City's upper class. Powerful Businessman Victor Newman runs Newman Enterprises and has never stopped loving his former flame and wife, Nikki Reed Newman.

Jack Abbott and his sister, Ashley, are closely connected with the Newman family, personally and professionally.

The battle for supremacy in Genoa City has been going on for years. Katherine Chancellor and Jill Foster Abbott, the Winters family, the Williams family, and recent newcomers round out the socially and ethnically diverse town.

Can you believe this series is still airing? It's hard to fathom, but the show is still going strong over fifty years after its debut. There are shows that are lifers, and there are some that seem downright immortal.

Cast: Peter Bergman (The King of Queens), Eric Braeden (How I Met Your Mother), Sharon Case (Poor Paul), Sean Dominic (Makeup X Breakup), Melissa Claire Egan (Misguided), Hayley Erin (General Hospital), Camryn Grimes (NCIS), Amelia Heinle (Ghost Whisperer)

Do you ever notice that Soap Operas usually have show titles that are just as extra and dramatic as the stories they depict? For example, The Bold and The Beautiful is still going as strong as this series decades later and streaming on Paramount+.

Desperate Housewives (2004-2012)

Role: Gabrielle Solis. Available to stream on Hulu.

It seems odd to have to inform people about this one-of-a-kind show, but if you can believe it, there are still people who haven't tuned in to see the residents of Wysteria Lane on Desperate Housewives. That's just crazy talk.

Behind the facade of a postcard-perfect subdivision live four women whose lives are anything but idyllic. Klutzy Susan is divorced and the mother of teenage Julie.

Lynette is married to Tom and the frazzled mother of four rambunctious children. Bree is the neighborhood's Martha Stewart, whose perfection masks significant dysfunction.

Ex-model Gabrielle, married to handsome and successful Carlos, wants to have her cake and eat it too. Looking down on it all is Mary Alice, who took her own life but comments on the lives of her former neighbors.

Coming straight from her role on a soap opera, we can't imagine it was that hard for Longoria to slip into the heels of an ex-model who married for love and especially money while having an affair with the soap opera hot teenager who mows their lawn.

That might've been a tough sell to any actress, but Eva Longoria was clearly having fun playing the part, considering she shines as Gabrielle Solis.

Cast: Teri Hatcher (Fantasy Island), Felicity Huffman (Get Shorty), Marcia Cross (Monarch), Nicollette Sheridan (Dynasty), Ricardo Chavira (Selena: The Series), Brenda Strong (Supergirl), James Denton (Good Witch), Vanessa Williams (Girls5eva)

It's hard to imagine any show could come close to capturing the perfect balance of comedy, drama, and characters that remain likable while having questionable intentions, but why try to imagine when you can just stream Why Women Kill on Paramount+?

Devious Maids (2016)

Role: Herself. Available to stream on Hulu.

If there's one person you never want to mess with, it's a maid. People forget how seamlessly these hospitality providers move behind the scenes and how much they can learn about a person from very little. And these are definitely some Devious Maids.

In Beverly Hills, whoever 'has the dirt' holds the power. In some of the city's wealthiest families, the power belongs to the close-knit group of maids with ambitions and dreams.

The maids are brought together by their jobs, life struggles, and their employers' upstairs-downstairs universe. Rosie, who left Mexico after her husband's death, works for a pair of self-absorbed actors.

Aspiring singer Carmen hopes her pop-star employer can help get her career off the ground. Still, her boss, Odessa, will do whatever it takes to stand in her way, and Zoila works beside her teenage daughter, Valentina, for an emotionally unstable woman.

The maids, along with newcomer Marisol, turn to one another for support when fellow maid Flora is murdered in her employer's home. Then, a loved one gets wrapped up in the murder, and Marisol searches for the truth.

It was inevitable that Eva Longoria would find her way onto this series, considering she was an executive producer. Even though she technically plays herself, it's very obvious that performs as a caricature of herself—an amalgamation of all her previous characters, really.

Cast: Ana Ortiz (Love, Victor), Dania Ramirez (Sweet Tooth), Roselyn Sanchez (Home Economics), Judy Reyes (Dr. Death), Edy Ganem (9-1-1), Rebecca Wisocky (Ghosts), Drew Van Acker (Titans), Cristian de la Fuente (Manchild)

If there is one thing that many entries on this list prove, it's that an all-female ensemble series is a hit with audiences, which is why so many people love Good Girls, currently streaming on Netflix.

Decline and Fall (2017)

Role: Margot Beste-Chetwynde. Available to stream on Acorn TV.

This was certainly a treat for fans of Eva Longoria. Although she is not an actress who takes on period projects, it's clear that the comedic opportunity spoke to her wheelhouse. Plus, they don't make fashion and headwear like on Decline and Fall anymore.

Based on Evelyn Waugh's 1028 novel of the same name, Oxford University student Paul Pennyfeather is wrongly expelled for indecent exposure after falling victim to an ill-conceived prank, triggering a rather unfortunate and unexpected series of events.

After his expulsion, Paul moves to Wales and takes up a teaching position. He immediately falls head over heels for the Honorable Mrs. Margot Beste-Chetwynde, the mother of one of his students.

After agreeing to tutor her son over the summer, Paul becomes wrapped up in far more than he could have ever bargained for.

As Margot, Eva plays a woman who is used to getting what she wants. When she sets her eyes on Pennyfeather, it isn't long before the wedding bells ring.

Cast: Jack Whitehall (Bad Education), David Suchet (His Dark Materials), Douglas Hodge (The Great), Vincent Franklin (Happy Valley), Stephen Graham (Bodies), Matthew Beard (Funny Woman), Oscar Kennedy (Wreck), Katy Wix (Ted Lasso)

Brits know how to bring a special kind of dry humor that's surprisingly refreshing with so much goofy comedy on the broadcast airways. However, Fleabag toes the line closely while keeping itself grounded, available for chuckles on Amazon Prime Video.

Empire (2017)

Role: Charlotte Frost. Available to stream on Hulu.

Every so often, a show comes along that is so incredibly written and acted that TV viewers who don't frequent that particular genre find themselves tuning into a show that they can get enough of even though they probably never would've normally watched it.

Just speaking from experience here. This show is incredible, and it's no wonder that Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels has called Empire the "Black Dynasty."

Hip-hop artist and CEO of Empire Entertainment, Lucious Lyon, has always ruled unchallenged. Still, a medical diagnosis predicts he will be incapacitated in three years, which prompts the sharks to circle.

Without further damaging his family, he must decide which of his three sons will take over. His favorite, young Hakeem, is a gifted musician but values fame over hard work. His middle son, Jamal, is talented and shy but gay, embarrassing to Lyon.

The oldest, Andre, is business-minded but lacks charisma. The reappearance of Cookie, his ex-wife, complicates things since she says he owes her for taking the fall for the drug-running that financed his early career.

Eva plays Charlotte Frost, the head of the Las Vegas Gaming Commission, who holds the keys to Lucious entering Vegas. Because she doesn't drink due to being a conservative Mormon, Lucious's usual tactics of wining and dining are dead on arrival.

Cast: Terrence Howard (The Best Man: The Final Chapters), Taraji P. Henson (Abbott Elementary), Bryshere Y. Gray (The New Edition Story), Jussie Smollett (Star), Trai Byers (Harlem), Grace Byers (Phoenix), Malik Yoba (Blue Bloods), Tasha Smith (First Wives Club)

There is no drama like the music industry, and while many times, these stories seem too grand and elaborate to be based on reality, the more we see shows like Star streaming on Hulu, the more we believe the possibility.

Land of Women (2024)

Role: Gala. Available to stream on Apple TV+.

First, if you haven't ventured over to Apple TV+ for some of its incredible original programming, I highly recommend Land of Women because even critics can't get enough of this fantastic series.

A New York socialite is forced to flee to a charming Spanish wine town with her mother and daughter. She navigates small-town quirks while confronting her deepest family secrets and a pair of bumbling hitmen.

Seriously, this show has barely gotten off the ground, but it packs so much into just one episode yet seems to effortlessly balance humor, heart, and heated arguments.

As for Eva Longoria's Gala, I previously said in my review of the premiere that her character is like if Gabrielle Solis left Carlos, moved to NYC, and landed herself another Mr. Money-bags, and I fully stand by that characterization.

Cast: Santiago Cabrera (Star Trek: Picard), Victoria Bazua, Carmen Maura (Limbo), Amaury Nolasco (Hightown), Gloria Munoz (Dangerous Moms)

A fabulous-looking woman on the run in stilettos after having her entire life turned upside down? Are you sure we aren't discussing the Kaley Cuoco-led Max series The Flight Attendant?

Only Murders in the Building (2024)

Role: Unknown. Available to stream on Hulu.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Eva will be joining fellow Latina actress Selena Gomez in the absolute phenomenon of a show, Only Murders in the Building. Considering the all-star cast that has already made its way over to the Hulu hit, we are currently chomping at the bit.

Three strangers share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one.

When a horrible death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another.

Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living among them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it's too late.

There is no news yet about who Eva Longoria's character is or how she will be involved in the mystery comedy drama's story, but if you've kept up with the show, you know it will be amazing no matter what. And how crazy was that Meryl Streep reveal from the third season?!

No wonder the most recent season, which premiered with 719 million viewers, came in ninth on the Nielsen overall streaming charts and third among streaming originals.

Cast: Steve Martin (The Downer Channel), Martin Short (Schmigadoon!), Selena Gomez (Inside Amy Schumer), Aaron Dominguez (Gossip Girl), Amy Ryan (Sugar), Cara Delevingne (American Horror Story), Adina Verson (And Just Like That...)

True crime is almost everywhere in every genre of storytelling right now, from comedic to dramatic to thrilling. Still, in the Peacock series Poker Face, Natasha Lyonne delivers all that and more in this exciting show about a woman with a sixth sense to sniff out liars.

Eva Longoria is as talented as she is a beautiful soul who works hard to give back to the less fortunate and has managed to remain grounded despite years of acclaim and success.

Wherever her career takes her, we will gladly be along for the ride while laughing all the way.

Which of Eva Longoria's previous works is your favorite?

Will you be tuning in like the rest of us to her exciting new Apple TV+ series and again when she joins the cast of Only Murders in the Building?

Drop a comment below to let us know, and join us again when we break down the must-watch movies and television shows of your favorite actors!

Joshua Pleming is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. You can follow him on X.