Eva Longoria secretly worked as a part-time headhunter while on The Young and the Restless

Eva Longoria secretly worked as a part-time headhunter while on The Young and the Restless.

The 51-year-old entertainer scouted talent, negotiated salaries and finalised placement deals for a temp agency, and Eva still did that work from her dressing room of the CBS soap opera - in which she played Isabella Brana from 2001 until 2003 - as she refused to be a struggling actress.

Eva recalled to Fortune: "The first day I landed in LA, I got a job. I was like, 'I’m not going to be a struggling actor. I’m going to figure this out.'"

Speaking about headhunting whilst on The Young and the Restless, she continued: "In my dressing room, I was doing the headhunting. I was negotiating 401(k)s and salaries, interviewing and reading resumes and placing people. And then they would be like, 'Eva, ready on set.'"

The actress quietly worked two jobs for years before she gave up the corporate role after she bagged a pay rise during her third year on The Young and the Restless, which made acting financially viable for Eva.

She added: "I knew I could always go back to corporate America if acting didn’t work out."

Eva's boss at the temp agency told her to stick to the day job rather than pursue acting.

She recalled: "He never understood why I didn’t stay in corporate America. It just wasn’t my calling, but I was really great at it.

"Everybody was surprised because I built this small business within his business, and he kept saying, 'Why would you want to be an actress? You’re so good at business; it’s a one in a million chance you’re going to be successful at acting.'