Eva Longoria knows melodrama: she dazzled and schemed on screen as Gabrielle Solis on ABC’s Desperate Housewives. The Golden Globe-nominated actress also knows Texas, and with her upcoming project, Pair of Aces, she’s looking to teach us not to mess with her home state.
Pair of Aces, created and written by Meredith Lavender and Marcie Ulin (both of Nashville and Missing), is loosely inspired by real life dynamos, Julián and Joaquín Castro. The Castro brothers (twins, actually) have established themselves as rising stars of the Democratic Party, and both hold office in the federal government: Julián, who served as San Antonio’s mayor from 2009-2014, is now the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Joaquín represents Texas as a Congressman. Y de tal palo, tal astilla: their mother, Marie “Rosie” Castro, has been active in local politics for decades, and is a member of the Raza Unida Party.
The show will center on la familia Reyes: namely, Maria and her sons, Chris and Alex. The brothers are “best friends and rivals,” and will make their way up the political ladder. But because this is television we’re talking about, everything will be outsize: instead of a grassroots activist mama, we’ll have a manipulative matriarch who is bent on establishing a dynasty in Tejas with her sons.
Longoria seems to be stepping up her producing game; even though Devious Maids could be worse with regards to embracing stereotypes, it’s not very progressive, let alone aspirational. With Pair of Aces, she and the rest of the production team (which includes Condé Nast Entertainment) have a chance to depict what the American dream looks like for Mexican-Americans, too.