Eva Longoria just can’t keep away from the “drama,” and that is why she is bringing it to your nearest TV set with Devious Maids.
Devious Maids is a new Lifetime series executive produced by Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) and Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives). The show takes an “upstairs-downstairs” look at five maids and their rich and famous employers inside their Beverly Hills mansions where murder and mayhem collide.
The story centers on the close-knit group of maids who are as clever, witty, outrageous, and devilish as their employers because in their world, whoever holds the dirt holds the power, and these maids are surely sweeping in more gossip than anything else.
The series will definitely give us all something to talk about because besides the juicy affairs and murder secrets, the five maids are played by, surprise surprise, an all-star Latina cast.
Dania Ramirez (Entourage) plays Rosie Falta, a widow who left her son back in Mexico when her husband died. Roselyn Sanchez (Rizzoli & Isles) will play Carmen Luna, an aspiring singer who hopes that her pop star employer Alejandro Rubio, played by the half-Cuban actor Matt Cedeño (Days of Our Lives), can help jump-start her career.
Judy Reyes (Scrubs) will play Zoila Diaz, the senior maid for Genevieve Delatour played by Susan Lucci (All My Children), a co-dependent, emotionally unstable wealthy woman. She works alongside her teen daughter Valentina Diaz, played by Edy Ganem, who has a crush on Genevieve’s son, Remi. Lastly, the fifth maid Marisol Suarez, played by Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty), is recently hired to clean the home of a newlywed couple with a complicated love history.
As stereotypical as these roles might seem, let’s pause, take a second, and give the series a chance before causing a riot. Call me crazy, but this is an amazing cast of Hispanic women who I know can give their characters depth, allowing the audience to even forget they are maids.
In addition, it’s produced by Longoria, a strong Mexican-American woman whose philanthropy has focused on the betterment of children, women, and the Latino community. Because of these reasons alone I think that the Hispanic maids theme is only a very thin layer of a multidimensional cake. Therefore I have convinced myself to take a chill pill and so should you, at least until after the first episode airs.
In the premiere, after the brutal murder of their fellow maid Flora Hernandez, played by Paula Garces (Harold & Kumar), the four maids turn to each other for support. Meanwhile, Marisol, the newcomer maid, comes to the new couple’s mansion with ulterior motives. When someone she loves becomes wrapped up in Flora’s murder, she goes undercover to learn the truth.
The drama was inspired by the Mexican soap opera, Ellas son la Alegría del Hogar. What are your thoughts on these Latinas playing maids? Do you think Devious Maidswill only further the stereotype or change it? For more on this topic, read our coverage on breaking Hispanic stereotypes.
Here’s a video of the trailer:
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