Why Eva Longoria Baston Paid for Her Own Quinceañera

— -- Eva Longoria Baston is one of the hardest working actresses in Hollywood -- and she has her mother to thank for it.

The 41-year-old star, who has been working since she was a teenager, reveals in the December issue of Redbook that she even paid for her own quinceañera, or 15th birthday celebration.

"I wanted to have a quinceañera when I was 15 and my family didn’t have the money, so I got a job at Wendy’s and paid for it myself," Longoria Baston told the magazine. "I couldn’t wait to get to work and make my own money. There was never any resentment because I saw how hard my mother worked and all she did for my sister [with special needs], and I wanted to do whatever I could to help. We all did."

The star's strong work ethic has served her well in Hollywood, along with her eternally optimistic nature.

"I remember losing auditions or being let go from a job and I’d say, 'That must mean there’s something amazing ahead for me!'" she said. "My friends would laugh and look at me like I was crazy. I have never, ever had a personal pity party."

Longoria Baston never gave up on love either.

The "Desperate Housewives" star was married twice before when she met Jose Baston, the president of Mexico-based Televisa, the largest multimedia company in Latin America.

"Even before we got engaged, we just felt married. We called one another 'my husband' and 'my wife.' It didn’t take either one of us very long to know that 'this is the one,'" she said. "In my case, it only took 40 years to find him!"

The couple tied the knot in Mexico this past May, and Longoria changed her name to Eva Longoria Baston.

"I love him, I love his last name, and I love that tradition. It’s a choice I made, but I realize it’s not for everybody. I was thrilled to take his name," she said.

Longoria Baston is less thrilled about the recent presidential election. In fact, the star, who campaigned for Hillary Clinton and President Obama, was heartbroken.

"As I wake up today with a broken heart I feel the need to be positive," she wrote on social media Wednesday. "To prepare myself for the things I cannot change. As I read and understand everyone's pain it makes me want to pray for everyone else's broken heart who believed in Hillary and her vision. Today we must move forward and spread love and positivity. This new president has a lot of work ahead of himself to heal the divide, I wish him well. For the sake of our beautiful country. Not the blue states. Not the red states, but for THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA."

As active as she is in politics, Longoria Baston, who is executive producer of Lifetime's "Devious Maids," said she has no plans to run for office herself.

"I’ve thought about that a million times. I think the most powerful part of our democracy is being a citizen. Our society cannot function without citizens. Voting, civil disobedience, protesting can make our voices heard," she told Redbook. "There’s more things you can do as a citizen to bring about change than as a politician. After some deliberation, I choose to hold on to that power rather than relinquish it. But I do have a great deal of respect for people who devote their lives to public service."