In her recent work in the Fox series The Cleaning Lady (no, she is not the “maid”, as Hollywood usually portrays Latinas) this beautiful and talented 27-year-old Argentinian actress, Eva De Domici, has managed to achieve something that very few immigrant actors have: perfectly blend herself into an American production.

In the first season, her role as Nadia Morales began as a secondary one, and quite frankly, that could easily have been the end. However, her way of seamlessly adapting to the established ways of American acting made the producers sit up and take notice. The scriptwriters began giving her more and more lines, to the point where the charming Nadia was able to step into a bright spotlight in the show developed by Miranda Kwok.

The actress talks proudly about this experience:

“I think Nadia´s success was directly linked to the strong relationship I built with Adán Canto on set. As my fictional husband (Arman Morales) and lead actor in the series, he never underestimated my role. Quite the contrary, from the beginning he wanted us to work on our roles together, incorporating aspects of a real marriage, which allowed us (Nadia and myself) to grow within the plot”.

Given that the translation of Eva´s name in English is “Eve”, while in Adán Canto´s case it is “Adam”, we might consider this a fortuitous reference to Adam and Eve´s paradise and an omen of good things to come.

In any case, in the second season, about to be filmed, this young Latin actress will surely continue gravitating towards the center of the action, which means being under scrutiny from every major Hollywood studio.

“I am so excited!” she says “I think my character is going to be part of the main cast, which makes me so happy. I don´t have the script yet, but I do know a little bit about what the producers want from me. I also know that it will be shot in Albuquerque (New Mexico), where they filmed Breaking Bad, my favorite series, and that I will have to move there with my family for a few months”

Eva´s humble family background and solid values have served her well in a profession where overexposure and constant rejections are par for the course, especially for someone who began their career at the early age of eight.

“Since I can remember, I never wanted to do anything else. When I was four, I watched a show called Chiquititas (Little Girls) by Cris Morena. And I told my parents “I want to be there”. But mom was a dentist and dad had a cardboard factory. They didn´t know how to help me. I begged anyone to help me to get closer to my dream… Until one day, I saw a casting call announced on TV and my parents took me. After doing several small parts, commercials, and such, I was cast in a show for Cris Morena. Chiquititas was back! That childhood goal was suddenly a reality. Nothing will ever compare to that first door of opportunity opening wide for me”.

Little did that young girl know that years later in Los Angeles, an the even bigger door would open for her. What began as a game, turned into a profession for the sixteen-year-old Eva. She decided to polish her talent by taking more theater classes. She devoted herself to her work and earned a name for herself in the Argentinian cinemas, winning a “Martin Fierro”, the country´s most prestigious award for work on television.

She remembers her well-timed arrival in Hollywood:

“I came because my sister had turned fifteen. I was twenty. We rented an apartment and the owner asked what I did for a living. He said he wanted to introduce me to a manager, that I had to “to find work here”. It seemed so crazy at the time. I had just shot a film with Leonardo Sbaraglia and had to return to Argentina to film a series. Anyway, I decided to meet with the manager and he told me I should improve my English and get back in touch in six months. Hollywood was not at all in my plans”

However, it would seem that she definitely was in Hollywood´s plans. It turns out that the manager introduced her to one of the most powerful talent agencies, the Gersh Agency, which represented names such as Humphrey Bogart and current stars including Meg Ryan and Kristen Stewart. The agency believed in Eva´s talent. When this second life-changing “door” appeared before her, the young woman from Buenos Aires did not hesitate to fling this one open as well.

Eva moved to Los Angeles in 2019 and met the music producer Eduardo Cruz, brother of the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz. Their relationship produced a son Cairo, who is now two years old. Although being the “sister-in-law” (they are not officially married) of Golden Globe and Oscar winners Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem is an honor and a privilege, Eva De Dominici is a self-made woman.

As soon as she established herself in the city, she shot Cosmic Sin in Atlanta with none other than Bruce Willis. A bittersweet moment during the shooting will stay with her forever:

“At the time I wasn´t totally comfortable speaking English and it was my first important film with such a big star. I had prepared my lines very well for a scene we had later. But someone said “You´re in the opening scene”. And I was like “What are they talking about?” And again “You´re in the opening scene”. “I just don´t get it” I kept thinking. Suddenly, I find out they had put me in the opening scene, which I didn´t know about because I had an earlier version of the script. Filming would be starting in two hours! It was quite a bit of text and I was about to fall apart. I called my coach and I learned all the lines. But when I had to repeat the scene, I got stuck…I couldn´t speak! In the end, everything was fine but when I got back to my hotel I just wanted to die. The phone rang. It was the studio apologizing and telling me that “of course” they wanted to work with me again. But that day was crazy. I thought my days as an actress in the United States were over”.

 

 

But they had just begun. One year after that “special” day in Atlanta, Eva was in New Mexico, playing Nadia Morales for Fox. For her, this was her most important part since arriving in L.A. It was her third big “door”, maybe a key to Hollywood itself.

With her role in The Cleaning Lady Eva mastered something very difficult for actors who make the crossover: merging with the American style of acting without losing her exotic Latin roots, the ones reflected in her accent of origin when speaking in English.

“When I play a part, I don´t see myself as a Latin, American, or Filipina woman because, in the end, we all have the same feelings. I don´t really see any impediments to being Latin, nor is it my intention to differentiate myself from other Hispanics. After all, what does it matter if I speak with a certain accent if, in the end, I can speak to your emotions? And The Cleaning Lady is about just that: people of different origins who, when it comes to feeling emotions, are all the same.

In 20 years, the actress´ credits have gone from stations such as Canal 13 and Telefé in Argentina to CBS, Amazon Studios, and Fox. Her talent and flexible acting abilities have shown us all that for her…the sky is the limit.

Eva has clear ideas about her future: “After The Cleaning Lady, I would like to play a somewhat more complex character, maybe even one with a mental illness. I have yet to do anything like this and that appeals to me as it would be a true challenge. In Argentina, I visited psychiatric wards and I have always been interested in trying to delve into the mind of someone who is in a place like that, behind those doors…. and to explore what makes that person different from myself”.

With her slender frame and talented acting, it is no stretch to imagine Eva as a future Bond Girl. When asked if she has ever thought about being in a 007 movie, her face lights up, genuinely surprised:

“Why are you asking me that?” she asks, and silence follows. Her perfect eyebrows draw a suspicious arch as if searching for hidden information within the question. After deciding there it is not the case, she recovers her wide Julia Roberts-like smile and answers:

“That´s interesting. Just recently a producer here mentioned the same thing. Obviously, I would love to. The 007 movies fascinate me, but I hadn´t really thought about anything like this until the subject came up a few days ago. Maybe it´s just a coincidence. Anyway, the next Bond movie is already finished. But for the following one….I can always hope!”

The only thing left for the authentic and direct Eva De Dominici is to continue projecting her identity as an artist; the one that began as a little girl whose convictions when she was only four years old set her down the road to fame. We will be able to see her in the upcoming season of The Cleaning Lady and we will surely continue to follow and admire her work for many years.

Are we witnessing the emergence of a new Bond girl? A dramatic character with a mental illness?

Whatever new door Hollywood opens for this Eve, it will surely bring her a little bit closer….to Paradise.

 

Translation: Mario Amaya