Eva Longoria and Meryl Streep exchanged sweet compliments the first time they saw each other after learning that they were distantly related!
The 50-year-old Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip actress was told that she was Streep’s cousin while participating in Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s 2010 docuseries Faces of America.
During a March 19 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Longoria shared what happened when she and the 75-year-old screen icon bumped into each other at an awards show after the revelation.
Longoria recalled that she saw Streep in the green room, and a friend urged her to go up and talk about their relationship. However, she refused, explaining, “I’m not gonna go up to Meryl Streep and say we’re cousins.”
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It turned out that she didn’t have to.
“As I’m like, ‘No, I’m not gonna do it,’ I hear, ‘Cousin! Cousin!’ ” Longoria said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ ”
She continued, saying that she complimented Streep by telling her, “Clearly you got the talent in the family.” The actress replied by saying, “Clearly you got the beauty.”
Longoria jokingly added, “So Meryl’s Latina,” prompting a laugh from host Jimmy Fallon.
Longoria and Streep reunited more recently on the set of Only Murders in the Building. Streep made her debut playing Loretta Durkin in the hit Hulu show’s third season, and Longoria played a fictionalized version of herself in the fourth.
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In June 2024, Longoria told DuJour that Streep introduced her to the Only Murders in the Building cast as her cousin during the first Zoom table read she participated in.
“She tells the story and everyone’s so confused, because I’m the most Latina person in the industry and she’s Meryl Streep,” Longoria said.
While on Only Murders in the Building, Longoria referenced her starring role on Desperate Housewives and jokingly took credit for the legalization of gay marriage.
She was one of many celebrities to cameo in the show’s fourth season. Longoria reflected on the star-studded cast, which featured the likes of Eugene Levy, Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy, telling Fallon that she “was pinching [herself]” on set.
“I mean every day there was another comedy icon,” she gushed.
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