Since 2000, actress Eva Longoria has been a staple of network television, with her most prominent small screen stint coming as part of the long-running drama Desperate Housewives. Since that show ended in 2012, she's made one-off appearances on several popular shows, as well as heading up the unfortunately short-lived comedy Telenovela, but her next role will almost definitely be the most exciting since Gabrielle Solis left our lives. Longoria is heading to the cutthroat universe of Empire for Season 3, and her character will have the unenviable task of facing Lucious Lyon head on.
Eva Longoria's stint on Empire won't be a permanent one, sadly, but it also won't be a blink-and-you'll-miss-her appearance, either. For a multi-episode arc, Longoria will portray Charlotte Frost, who will have an interesting role to play in the company's future as the head of the state gaming commission that has final say in Lucious' plan to expand Empire out to Las Vegas. One would assume that Terrence Howard's manipulative mogul will at least initially try to get on Charlotte's good side, as he's done with other powerful women in Empire's run that could help and/or destroy him.
Don't go thinking all will remain fine and dandy, of course, as Charlotte isn't a one-dimensional source of painless glory for Lucious. According to TVLine, the character has a "a force of darkness and corruption" hiding just beneath her surface, so we can expect her to try and double-cross someone, or everyone, whenever she arrives later in Season 3.
Plus, everybody knows if you're taking on Lucious and Empire, you've got a near-certain date with destiny in the form of Cookie Lyon, so this Charlotte person hopefully has skin thicker than bricks and a brain that doesn't accept danger rationally. (Probably not the kind of person that would be hired to head a gaming commission.) Seeing Eva Longoria and Taraji P. Henson going toe to toe would make for a fabulous evening of primetime TV.
The last time Eva Longoria owned a recurring role was for a Season 2 arc on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, though she also popped up on a Season 4 episode of Devious Maids, which she also executive produces. And she also showed up for the Season 2 premiere of Lip Sync Battle between Channing and Jenna Tatum, but she didn't perform. On the big screen, she'll be seen later this year in the drama Lowriders, which also stars big TV names like Theo Rossi and Melissa Benoist. Hopefully she survives her Empire trip so she can return in future seasons.
With one of TV's most impressive list of guest stars, Empire is currently in the midst of its midseason hiatus, and Season 3 will return to Fox on Wednesday, March 22, at 10:00 p.m. ET. Head over to our midseason premiere schedule to see what's premiering in the meantime.
