Eva Longoria was the "ugly duckling" in her family during her younger years

Eva - who was the youngest of four daughters - said on 'TODAY': "I was performative in my family because I was the ugly duckling. Documentation is available if you need it.

"My three sisters look alike. They are all blonde. I knew I wasn't the pretty one and I was like, 'OK, I'm not the pretty one so I'm going to be the funny one. I'm going to be the smart one.'"

Eva studied kinesiology at a university in Texas, but she eventually found her way to Hollywood.

The brunette beauty explained: "I land in Hollywood and I don't know what happened. I just was like, 'I think I'm going to be an actor.'"

Eva starred on 'The Young and the Restless', the daytime soap opera, between 2001 and 2003. But she found international stardom in 2004, when she joined the cast of 'Desperate Housewives', the hit comedy-drama series.

Eva - who played the part of Gabrielle Solis on the ABC series - shared: "By the time I got 'Desperate Housewives', I remember when it aired, and I was like, 'Mom, you gotta watch, it's called 'Desperate Housewives'.'

"She watches and she calls me afterwards. She goes, 'Honey you were in it a lot.' I go, 'Yeah mom, I'm one of the stars.' And she goes, 'Are you going to be in it next week?' [I go], 'Mom I'm going to be on every week.' It was a big adjustment for everybody around me, but not me."