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Eva Longoria Talks Master's Degree, Producing Lifetime's Devious Maids—Watch!

Ex-Desperate Housewives diva talks to E! News exclusively about how a graduate program in Chicano studies has paid off in a big way

By Josh Grossberg Jun 18, 2013 8:58 PMTags
Watch: Eva Longoria Puts Master's Degree to Work

Eva Longoria's grad school education is helping her break new ground on the tube.

Speaking to E! News at the premiere of Devious Maids, the new Lifetime drama she's executive producing, the actress expressed pride in the show's all-Latina cast.

She also attributed part of that pioneering spirit—helped along by Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry who served as her producing mentor—to the master's degree she received in Chicano studies.

"I'm not the authority of Latinos, but I definitely have a perspective that Marc respects and I'm a very big advocate in my community and so I'm happy to contribute in that way," Longoria told E! News. "So storyline-wise, I always wanted to make sure that the girls are the moral compass of the show and that they're really the heroes. And you'll see that throughout the season."

The 38-year-old thesp also noted how important it was to tell stories that showed the maids in ways viewers have never seen before given the conventional jobs they have.

"Marc asked me to come aboard and I said yes, absolutely," she added. "I was very excited that he was giving the opportunity to five Latinas to have a voice and be able to showcase it on a show as great as Desperate Housewives and he's really delivered on this show."

Devious Maids premieres on the cable network on June 23, though anyone wanting a sneak peek can watch the pilot episode online.

For more, tune in to tonight's episode of E! News at 7 and 11:30 p.m.