Eva Longoria Parker is used to red carpets — but not being the star of the event. That all changed Tuesday night at the Hollywood premiere of her comedy Over Her Dead Body (in theaters Friday). She started the evening relatively calm, but as her car approached the craziness outside the Cinerama Dome, some nerves kicked in. USA TODAY was along for the ride.
At the actress's Hollywood Hills mansion, Kenny Paves, hairstylist to such stars as Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Simpson, arrives to put the finishing touches on the style he created earlier in the day at his salon. Longoria Parker explains that her father, Enrique, an Army engineer, didn't like the short, curly hairstyle she wore to Sunday's Screen Actor's Guild Awards, so now it's straight and sleek.
A dusty-rose J. Mendel dress arrives. "This was inspired by old Hollywood — flowy, light and romantic," she says. The shoes: gem-accented metallic Christian Louboutins. "I'm trying to channel old movie stars whose movies did well." FIND MORE STORIES IN: Texas | Seattle | New Orleans | God | Army | San Antonio Spurs | Desperate Housewives | Valentine | Jennifer Lopez | Jessica Simpson | Good | Henry | Hollywood Hills | Felicity Huffman | Sentinel | Ella | Michael Bolton | Mario Lopez | Parkers | Brenda Strong | Eva Longoria Parker | J. Mendel | Cinerama Dome | Enrique | Screen Actor | Christian Louboutins | Over Her Dead Body 6:40. Enrique and wife Ella, a special-education teacher, are in town from Texas and are awed as their daughter descends the staircase, all done up for her big night. "It's very exciting," says Enrique. "And we're very proud of her," adds her mother, wearing a new outfit of her own. Hubby Tony Parker is "as we speak, playing in Seattle," Longoria Parker says. "He has seen the movie so many times already and sent me a beautiful text message today saying, 'Good luck. Have fun.' And that I'm 'a star.' " (The couple will be reunited Friday in Texas, where wives of the San Antonio Spurs will all go see the film. For Valentine's Day, the Parkers will either be in New Orleans, if he lands a place on the All-Star team, or overseas for a romantic trip. "We don't give each other gifts for Valentine's," she explains. "We do gestures — like dinner, a card or massage.")
Longoria Parker climbs into her spacious SUV with black-tinted windows as the chauffeur closes the door behind her. She explains that her first big studio movie, 2006's The Sentinel, had no premiere, so "this is my first real premiere. I never saw one of my movies with an audience. This is the first time I'm going to hear people react to the scenes and laugh — and I'm so nervous. I hope people find it funny."
The SUV pulls up to a mass of waiting photographers, reporters and fans. "Oh, my God," she says. "Look at all of them." Waiting on the red carpet are Desperate Housewives co-stars Felicity Huffman, with husband William H. Macy; Nicollette Sheridan, with fiancé Michael Bolton; and Brenda Strong. Also there is friend Mario Lopez, who says he is "very, very excited for her." Where are the other Desperate Housewives? Longoria Parker explains: "Marcia (Cross) couldn't come because she has been away from her babies three nights in a row and wanted to put them down to sleep tonight, which I totally understand. I can't wait to have that problem." And Teri Hatcher? "I don't know where she is." 8 p.m. The movie begins. Longoria Parker plays a bridezilla who is killed on her wedding day in the opening scene when an ice sculpture falls on her head. "Yes, I get crushed by an angel," she says with a laugh. "I go to heaven, and there begins the plot." Her character's ghost haunts the new love interest (Lake Bell) of her fiancé, Henry (Paul Rudd). Longoria Parker has joked that if she were to die, she would haunt her husband. And she's not joking. "Seriously, I will never let him go," she stresses. "I tell him, 'I'd just lay next to you and stare at you — not much different than I do now.'" And if he were to predecease her? "I would want him to haunt me as well. I truly believe in soul mates and true love that extends beyond this life."
At the actress's Hollywood Hills mansion, Kenny Paves, hairstylist to such stars as Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Simpson, arrives to put the finishing touches on the style he created earlier in the day at his salon. Longoria Parker explains that her father, Enrique, an Army engineer, didn't like the short, curly hairstyle she wore to Sunday's Screen Actor's Guild Awards, so now it's straight and sleek.
A dusty-rose J. Mendel dress arrives. "This was inspired by old Hollywood — flowy, light and romantic," she says. The shoes: gem-accented metallic Christian Louboutins. "I'm trying to channel old movie stars whose movies did well." FIND MORE STORIES IN: Texas | Seattle | New Orleans | God | Army | San Antonio Spurs | Desperate Housewives | Valentine | Jennifer Lopez | Jessica Simpson | Good | Henry | Hollywood Hills | Felicity Huffman | Sentinel | Ella | Michael Bolton | Mario Lopez | Parkers | Brenda Strong | Eva Longoria Parker | J. Mendel | Cinerama Dome | Enrique | Screen Actor | Christian Louboutins | Over Her Dead Body 6:40. Enrique and wife Ella, a special-education teacher, are in town from Texas and are awed as their daughter descends the staircase, all done up for her big night. "It's very exciting," says Enrique. "And we're very proud of her," adds her mother, wearing a new outfit of her own. Hubby Tony Parker is "as we speak, playing in Seattle," Longoria Parker says. "He has seen the movie so many times already and sent me a beautiful text message today saying, 'Good luck. Have fun.' And that I'm 'a star.' " (The couple will be reunited Friday in Texas, where wives of the San Antonio Spurs will all go see the film. For Valentine's Day, the Parkers will either be in New Orleans, if he lands a place on the All-Star team, or overseas for a romantic trip. "We don't give each other gifts for Valentine's," she explains. "We do gestures — like dinner, a card or massage.")
Longoria Parker climbs into her spacious SUV with black-tinted windows as the chauffeur closes the door behind her. She explains that her first big studio movie, 2006's The Sentinel, had no premiere, so "this is my first real premiere. I never saw one of my movies with an audience. This is the first time I'm going to hear people react to the scenes and laugh — and I'm so nervous. I hope people find it funny."
The SUV pulls up to a mass of waiting photographers, reporters and fans. "Oh, my God," she says. "Look at all of them." Waiting on the red carpet are Desperate Housewives co-stars Felicity Huffman, with husband William H. Macy; Nicollette Sheridan, with fiancé Michael Bolton; and Brenda Strong. Also there is friend Mario Lopez, who says he is "very, very excited for her." Where are the other Desperate Housewives? Longoria Parker explains: "Marcia (Cross) couldn't come because she has been away from her babies three nights in a row and wanted to put them down to sleep tonight, which I totally understand. I can't wait to have that problem." And Teri Hatcher? "I don't know where she is." 8 p.m. The movie begins. Longoria Parker plays a bridezilla who is killed on her wedding day in the opening scene when an ice sculpture falls on her head. "Yes, I get crushed by an angel," she says with a laugh. "I go to heaven, and there begins the plot." Her character's ghost haunts the new love interest (Lake Bell) of her fiancé, Henry (Paul Rudd). Longoria Parker has joked that if she were to die, she would haunt her husband. And she's not joking. "Seriously, I will never let him go," she stresses. "I tell him, 'I'd just lay next to you and stare at you — not much different than I do now.'" And if he were to predecease her? "I would want him to haunt me as well. I truly believe in soul mates and true love that extends beyond this life."
