By Fernando Mexia

LOS ANGELES – Actress Eva Longoria said in an interview with Efe that she feels “sure” about the quality of her Spanish, which has allowed her to work on her first production in that language: “Dias de gracia.”

The star of the television series “Desperate Housewives” used Spanish – in fact – to confirm that now she’s confident in her facility with the language. “I feel confident,” she said.

The return to her linguistic roots landed her a role in “Dias de gracia,” a Mexican film that will be released in 2010 and which also stars Carlos Bardem and Paulina Gaitan, among others.

“I was very terrified, despite playing the role of a U.S. citizen who speaks Spanish, but it was a challenge to act in another language,” she said.

One of the recent public forays into Spanish by Longoria was at the recent inauguration of the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival, where she presented the Gabi prize to Pedro Almodovar for a life dedicated to moviemaking.

Longoria was tasked with reading the thank-you letter from the Spanish director, who was not at the ceremony, with whom she said she would love to work despite the language barrier.

“If he asked me to participate in one of his films, without doubt I’d do it, although Spain’s Spanish is very different,” she added.

Longoria, a U.S. citizen of Mexican ancestry who has figured prominently in the defense of Hispanics in the United States, has set out to deepen her Latina identity and so she began to perfect her Spanish and even studied for and received a Master’s Degree in Chicano studies.


“I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish. That was a taboo and I felt very disconnected in Mexico and speaking with the Latino community in the United States, so I stopped taking classes,” she said in English.

The 34-year-old actress will be honored Thursday at the 35th edition of the awards presented by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, in Los Angeles to citizens and social leaders for their achievements in promoting and protecting the civil rights of Latinos.

“This is one of the prizes I’m most proud to receive because it’s about the defense of this community, something I’ve done for my entire life. It’s more important than the acting awards,” Longoria, who will be presented with the Community Service Award, said.

The actress, the founder of the organization Eva’s Heroes, which aids disabled people, was recently in Washington named a member of the commission to study the creation of a Latino museum in the United States, which has as one of its objectives pushing for immigration reform.

The initiative was a campaign promise made by U.S. President Barack Obama, but implementing it has been postponed.

“It’s disappointing, but not only with this administration, the delay comes after the last 10 years. It’s a very important issue and needs the attention and the time it deserves, and I’m sure that it will move forward,” said Longoria, who is a Democrat. EFE