Eva Longoria on Playing a ‘Naughty Chef’ Opposite George Clooney in Nespresso Ad (Exclusive)

Nespresso’s latest campaign stars George Clooney as a detective tasked with uncovering the thief who stole the brand’s colorful coffee capsules from an heiress — and Eva Longoria plays one of the prime suspects.

The actress tells PEOPLE her performance in the ad wasn’t inspired by any culinary personality in particular.

“I have so many friends that are chefs,” she says. “Bobby Flay, Michael Symon — there’s so many — Danny Garcia, Ferran Adrià. Because I do the shows Searching for Mexico, Searching for Spain, I get to come across some really fantastic chefs, and none of them are like my character.”

Longoria says they spent three days shooting the commercial in Rome, and while the actor is known to prank his pals, he was “well-behaved” on set. However, the pair still spent the time “laughing and laughing and laughing.”

The Desperate Housewives alum, 49, offered the following description for Clooney, whom she says she’s known for more than 15 years: “Funny, easygoing, lifts up everybody, lifts up the entire crew.”

“Everybody loves him,” she adds. “His energy, just to be around him is like… It’s contagious. You just have to be kind because he’s just the kindest human being.”

Longoria calls herself a “huge coffee drinker” whose morning routine revolves around the drink.

She’s especially fond of catching up with her girlfriends over coffee.

“We just all went skiing together with our kids,” she shares. “Us all being in the kitchen, I’m like, ‘Why don’t we all live together? We need to buy a big commune and live together.’ That would be my dream, to have all my friends and all their kids together.”

The cookbook author, who released My Mexican Kitchen in 2024, teamed up with another close collaborator in the kitchen last month: Brooklyn Beckham.

“I always want to cook with Brooklyn,” she says. “He’s a fantastic cook. And he’s like me. We’re both cooks. We’re not chefs. We’re just cooks. We’re just throwing s— together. His hot sauce is really amazing. But I love cooking with friends because we really just shoot the s— and have fun.” 

For the past few years, the Flamin’ Hot director has been living between Spain and Mexico with her husband, José Bastón, and their 6-year-old son Santiago.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Longoria has plenty of praise for the local cuisine in both countries.

“Mexico has the best breakfasts in the world,” she says. “I feel like the rest of the world is so boring with breakfast. France is croissant, coffee. Spain is toast and coffee. America’s bacon and eggs, like, okay. Where in Mexico you have so many options. You have chilaquiles, you have molletes, you have huevos rancheros, huevos divorciados, pan dulce. It’s endless. It’s endless. So I love breakfasts in Mexico.”

And as for Spain, she says, “I love everything.”

“I like going to the market, buying what you’re going to cook tonight,” she says. “You have to go to the meat market to get your meat. … There are supermarkets, but for the most part you go and get what you’re cooking from different places. And that it’s just fresh. It’s just healthy. It’s clean. It’s all local. It’s always local. That tomato is literally from that farm right there. So I just love the clean eating of Spain.”

“And that’s why when I eat at 10 o’clock at night in Spain, I don’t get sick,” she adds. “I’m not like, ‘Oh, my stomach.’ I’m not full, because it’s such clean eating. Where here, I could never eat a 10 o’clock at night dinner. Are you crazy?”