Eva Longoria Parker on fame, family and the hereafter

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Eva Longoria Parker married the man of her dreams, Tony Parker, point guard for the San Antonio Spurs. The tiny Texan, who left home to pursue acting, paid her dues doing soap operas before "Desperate Housewives" made the 32-year-old a household name. In her latest venture on the big screen, she plays dead, literally. "Over Her Dead Body" is a light comic romp in which she haunts her former fiance's (Paul Rudd) psychic girlfriend (Lake Bell).Q: Have you ever been to a psychic?A: Yes. It was fun, you know. We went with my girlfriends. It was fun. You don't take it too seriously or live and die by the word of this person.Q: What do you think happens after you die?A: You know, I believe in angels and spirits around us, so I would like to believe that people have a choice: Either to stay around and watch over the ones that they love or to move on and come back in another form.Q: Growing up in Texas, you learned to hunt, shoot and skin animals with your father. Have those skills come in handy in Hollywood?A: Yeah, I mean I'm itching to do an action film. I did "The Sentinel" already, so I got to shoot, but no, I don't want to skin anything per se. (Laughing)Q: So you were a tomboy growing up.A: Well, total. You didn't gather that by the hunting and shooting and all that?Q: I wasn't sure if your father had just insisted you do it or it was something you wanted to do.A: Both. (Laughing) He had four girls so he was hoping that one of us would be a boy, but he never got it, so he kind of forced us all into being tomboys. I enjoyed it. I loved it.Q: You were prepared for the amount of attention your relationship and marriage to Tony Parker would bring?A: Yeah, you know, you kind of assume that when you date another celebrity. You know it's going to bring a little attention (laughing), so yeah.Q: Now it's double the intrusion. Do you find it hard to avoid the paparazzi or ignore the tabloid press? Does all that get in the way of your life?A: No, it never censors us. We are still going to live our lives the way we live it. You can't really avoid it. You just kind of learn to accept that that is part of your life. Other than the fact that people know what kind of milk you buy, it's just going to be part of your life. (Laughing)Q: So is fame worth it? You have seen both sides of it. You grew up normal.A: Yeah, I grew up normal. Is it worth it? There are definitely more pros than cons to being famous. You know nobody wants to hear a celebrity complain. (Laughing) It's a great life -- it is. We have the means to do things and travel and see people and experience things, so I find that there are way more pluses than negatives.Q: If you could trade fame and celebrity for anything, what would it be?A: I don't know. Probably, you know, for privacy. Yeah, to be anonymous again, but I wouldn't and that's my point. See, like, that's a trick question. You answer it and people go, "Eva wants to trade it all for, like, family." And then I say, "No, I didn't say that at all. I was asked a question about it." So, you can never win.Q: So what you are saying is you are very comfortable where you are and you're enjoying it.A: Very. Yes, very much so.Q: How about your family? Have they adjusted to the spotlight?A: Yeah. It's funny that you say that, because it does change everybody's life around you, not just your own. So they handle it well. My family is super-humble, and they are the ones that keep me grounded. They handle everything with such grace and gratitude. I'm very proud of my family.(Patricia Sheridan can be reached at psheridan(at)post-gazette.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)