Getting to know a celebrity in a short period of time in order to get a good interview can be tough, especially when you only have ten minutes. Because Eva Longoria Parker is so nice and charming, my conversation with the leading lady turned into a great little interview.

Eva, best known for her work on Desperate Housewives, from which she received a Golden Globe nomination, stars in her newest film Over Her Dead Body, which opens everywhere on February 1st. Other notable films include The Sentinel, Harsh Times and Carlita"s Secret. She is married to Tony Parker, the point guard for the San Antonio Spurs.

About Over Her Dead Body: Devastated when his fiancée Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) is killed on their wedding day, Henry (Paul Rudd) reluctantly agrees to consult a psychic named Ashley (Lake Bell) at the urging of his sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane). Despite his skepticism over her psychic abilities, Henry finds himself falling hard for Ashley, and vice versa. But there is a big snag. Ashley is being haunted by Kate’s ghost, who considers it her heavenly duty to break up Henry and Ashley's fledgling romance, if it is the last thing she does on this earthly plane.-New Line Cinema

Since Eva’s schedule for interviews could not afford me much time, I took aim at the most obvious questions first.

Seeing yourself on screen after the movie has wrapped can cause you to be very judgmental, so I asked Eva what her reaction was after seeing Over Her Dead Body as a finished product for the first time.

Eva: Hilarious. I watched the film for the first time with my husband Tony. He’s a big film guy. He’s watches everything, everything, because he’s always on the road traveling. I was nervous with him watching it because I knew he would be honest. (She laughs) And he loved it and it made me feel good because I was really frightened.

Although Eva has been in comedic roles before I still wanted to know what drew her to the role of a ghost.

Eva: When I read the script I loved the idea of playing a ghost. That this person would be a character with no boundaries. She could do anything, she could float, and levitate and play jokes on them. She had the most fun in the movie.

Working with a first-time director has its advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is the element of the unknown since first-time directors have no previous films to go by. So I asked Eva what it was like working with director Jeff Lowell.

Eva: It was great. You know Jeff wrote the script. And for me, I love working with writer/directors. Obviously they have a greater vision of the movie because they wrote it. So instead of someone’s interpretation of what they think the writer meant when they wrote it, Jeff ‘knew’ what he meant when he wrote it. And because he was a first-time director he was open to ad-libbing and improv and anything that made it more organic for the actors, which was refreshing.

In a film where there are a lot of stunts such as levitating in a ghostly fashion, there are sometimes some goofy moments. So I thought I would ask Eva what it was like on the set and whether there were any funny incidents during the filming.

Eva: Oh Gosh. It was a big circus everyday that we were all on set because David and Paul Rudd are crazy in the head, but in a good way. But there was nothing bad. We did stunts and all these special effects and nothing went wrong. We were accident free.

Every time you have an acting gig, you learn something from it and are able to take the experience to your next acting job. I thought it would be a great question for our readers to hear what Eva had to say about Over Her Dead Body.

Eva: I loved the physical comedy in this film. I would take that away with me to explore new avenues of exhibiting comedy whether it is physical or whatever. This movie just kind of reaffirmed my belief in the afterlife in ghosts and spirits and energies around us. I definitely believe in angels watching us, people who have passed on that are still with us in spirit guiding us along. I think it is a comforting thought.

Starting an acting career in most cases begins with your early years. I asked Eva if she would have done things differently in high school or college to prepare her for an acting career. She said she would not have changed anything.

Eva: I did everything pretty right. And when I landed in Hollywood I took every craft, technical workshop, casting directory, I did everything. I really prepared myself for acting. I think anybody would for anything in life. If you’re going to be a dentist, you go to dental school. If you’re going to be a lawyer, you go to law school. So with acting I really approached it like that.

Advice to students is always welcomed from a seasoned actor, so I asked Eva ‘If you were 17 again, what would you tell today’s High School students to do when planning an acting career?’

Eva: Stay disciplined, stay strong and stay focused. It is very easy to be distracted. And if you are going to pursue an acting career make sure you are pursuing an acting career because you want to act. Not because you want to be famous.

Time was running out so I jumped to a question on Eva’s future roles.

Eva: Actually I have a movie with Jason Biggs coming out, we just wrapped it. Lower Learning. It’s about an elementary school that’s going to be shut down. It’s another comedy, very funny. And I have an animation coming out, Food Fight, where I play the villain and it is very, very cleaver.

Most actors give back to the community that they came from and Eva is no different in that respect. She gets involved in a lot of charity work.

Eva: I do a lot of work for charities. I am the national spokesperson for Padres Contra El Cancer (http://www.iamhope.org), which helps Latino families with children who have cancer. I founded Eva’s Heroes (http://www.evasheroes.org) in San Antonio, Texas, which is an after school program for special needs kids. My older sister is intellectually disabled and growing up in that community and I thought it would be a wonderful thing to give back.

Over Her Dead Body is out in theaters February 1st.

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tony   |2008-01-24 16:50:15 Eva is her biggest fan. Reply 0   0

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."