Actor and producer Eva Longoria considers her political activism to be more important that her popularity. The actor has been outspoken about various political and social issues over the years, but Longoria isn’t worried about losing fans because of her views.
“There are things that are a lot more important than box office and viewers,” she told ELLE‘s December/January 2023 “Women in Hollywood” issue.
“Women’s rights are very important,” she said. “The dismantling of human rights, of health care systems, of education systems. The banning of books. These are very dangerous things that need to be talked about, looked at, voted on and advocated for. So, it’s not an ‘Ooh, do I do it?’ I have to do it. It is nonnegotiable.”
“I don’t ever think, I’m going to alienate half an audience or I’m going to lose some Twitter fans,” the activist continued. “That doesn’t matter to me if I’m saving democracy.”
Despite this, Longoria doesn’t have any ambitions to run for the White House. The actor observed that individual citizens are actually the “most powerful” people in a democracy.
Asked if she’d ever run for political office, Longoria replied, “No, no, no. No, and I think that’s the myth, that you have to be a politician to be political. That’s not true. The most powerful person in democracy is the citizen.”
“Once you become a politician, your hands get tied,” she said. “You’re beholden to special interests; you’re beholden to certain industries.”
Longoria loves that she’s able to speak her mind without having to worry about the potential consequences.
“As a citizen, you can speak your mind as loudly as you want,” said the “Desperate Housewives” star, who has been outspoken on a number of issues, including immigration.
