Mission actress cast as Eva Longoria's daughter on 'Desperate Housewives'

Saturday was Karolinah Villarreal’s birthday, but the 12-year-old actress from Mission had already gotten the thing she wanted most this year: The role of Eva Longoria Parker’s daughter on an upcoming episode of ABC’s Desperate Housewives.

“I just started screaming and yelling” when the show’s producers called earlier this month to offer her the part of Celia, the youngest child of Gabrielle Solis (Longoria Parker), Karolinah said.

Now in its sixth season, Desperate Housewives took its reputation for stunning plot twists to a new level in 2008 by skipping five years into the future of its characters, a group of upper-middle-class suburban women and their families.

The casting of the pre-teen Karolinah as Celia (last played at age 4 by Daniella Baltodano) signals yet another fast-forwarding of the story line. Karolinah hopes the show’s writers will press pause this season so she can land a recurring role. Her episode is tentatively scheduled to air in January.

Karolinah got to see the wacky world of Desperate Housewives (including the sprawling faux neighborhood of Wisteria Lane) from the inside during filming a couple of weeks ago. Despite the surreal story playing out around her, she said her TV mom is totally down to her earth.

“It was really good to meet Eva Longoria,” Karolinah said. “She’s actually very, very sweet and kind. She’s a very loving person.”

A month after her debut on Desperate Housewives early next year, Karolinah will jump from primetime to the silver screen with a part in the feature film Valentine’s Day, which stars Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel and Jessica Alba.

Karolinah and her older brother J.R. live with their father in Los Angeles. J.R. Villarreal is himself a working actor who drew attention for a starring role in the 2006 movie Akeelah and the Bee. Karolinah hopes they’ll get to come back to the Valley for a few days this Christmas.

“I miss the heat,” she said — one of many things home has to offer over the West Coast.

“And we can never find a Chili’s here.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT KAROLINAH AND HER BROTHER J.R.

Brandon R. Garcia is editor of Festiva. He covers Valley natives who have found success in the entertainment industry. Know someone he should write about? E-mail him at bgarcia@themonitor.com

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