VARIOUS: "Desperate Housewife" Eva Longoria keeps busy juggling TV stardom and a burgeoning film career

"Desperate Housewife" Eva Longoria keeps busy these days as she juggles being one of TV's highest paid actresses with a burgeoning film career. Working seven days a week is common for the actress, who is currently filming season three of the monster-hit television series during the week and comedy "How I met my Boyfriend's Dead Fiancé" on weekends. The film is set to be released towards the end of 2007 and also stars Paul Rudd and Lake Bell, formerly of "Boston Legal." "Well, it's called 'How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancé' -- I know it's very long -- but I play the dead fiancé, and it's about a woman who died on her wedding day and has a hard time seeing her fiancé moving and so she tries to sabotage the relationship he's in as a ghost," says actress Eva Longoria, who is currently filming "How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancé." Longoria became one of TV's best known actresses as the high-maintenance Gabrielle Solis on "Desperate Housewives," which will debut its third season on September 24th. The show was a smash hit when it debuted in 2004, but hit what some critics called a "lull" in its second season, despite maintaining an average of 25 million viewers tuning in each week. For Longoria, who announced earlier this week that "Housewives" would be her last television series, appearing in small films such as "Dead Fiancé" is important for her to make the transition from television star to film actress. "Yeah, I'm actually shooting this movie on the weekends and doing 'Desperate Housewives' during the week, it's been a little crazy but I like it -- I like working. I really want to work hard right now and relax later, and I'm in work mode. During the year, in 'Desperate Housewives' it's waking up at five, waking up at six and working all day, so in the summer I actually want to relax and go on vacation, so I like doing a movie and the show at the same time because I'm in that work mode," she said. "How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancé" is the first feature film for director Jeff Lowell, who also wrote this past summer's "John Tucker Must Die." Lake Bell plays Longoria's costar, and is amazed daily at the level of professionalism that the actress maintains. "I have never met anyone so graceful under pressure in my life. I don't sense pressure from Eva, she's so -- I am being completely honest -- whether it's dealing with like paparazzi or press or anything, I mean, she shows up to work, you know, even though she's been working a million hours on Desperate Housewives, she shows up here, she knows all her lines, she's ready to go, you know, camera ready, the paparazzi are here and she smiles, and she's nice -- she's just unbelievably well-adjusted," says Lake Bell, Eva Longoria's costar in "How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancé." The glare of the public spotlight was a shock for the actress when "Desperate Housewives" became a huge international success so quickly, but Longoria is still content with the choice she made to enter the entertainment industry. "I think the biggest thing is loss of anonymity and privacy, and especially with the bounty that paparazzi has now with pictures and gossip and news, that's a little out of hand. But you know, I have a great job and I work with great people and I make good money and I get to travel, and I get to do and meet interesting people. I don't get to do people, I get to do interesting things and meet interesting people," she said. Comedy comes naturally to the Texas native, who at a pint-sized 5'1 was named "Hottest Female Star" of 2005 and 2006 by Maxim Magazine. Despite reaching major "Sex Symbol" status, the actress maintains that she lives a simple life and frequently wears pyjamas around her house. She is excited for the debut of season three of "Desperate Housewives," and is eager to see how the show will fare with viewers now that new writers have been brought in to freshen up the show. "'Desperate Housewives' broke the mold for comedy and television, it broke the mold for women in television -- there's never been a show with four female leads -- it broke the mold for age in television, these women are over forty and successful, so I'm really proud to be part of it," she said. "How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancé" is currently filming in Los Angeles, and "Desperate Housewives" season three premieres on September 24th, 2006. ENDS

ITN Source | September 21, 2006

Tags:. .forty. .actresses. .maintaining. .graceful. .broke