Eva Longoria says she and Meryl Streep call each other ‘cousin' since learning they're related

"I’m the most Latina person in the industry, and she’s Meryl Streep."

Eva Longoria and Meryl Streep treated each other like family while filming the upcoming season of "Only Murders in the Building."

The two actors have used a special nickname for each other ever since they learned they are distant relatives after participating in Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s 2010 PBS docuseries "Faces of America," Longoria told DuJour.

"We actually call each other ‘cousin,’” the former "Desperate Housewives" star, 49, said, adding, “We’ll say, ‘How are you, cousin?’ and ‘I’m good, cousin.’”

Streep, 74, introduced Longoria as her cousin during the first Zoom table read for "Only Murders," which was attended by more than 100 people involved with the show, including actors Selena Gomez, Molly Shannon and Zach Galifianakis, Longoria said.

“She tells the story and everyone’s so confused, because I’m the most Latina person in the industry, and she’s Meryl Streep,” Longoria recalled.

Longoria added that she had a blast working alongside comedy veterans Steve Martin and Martin Short on the show.

“Watching them make a lunch order is a show in itself,” she joked. “It’s a constant roast about a sandwich, a 30-minute comedy about mustard.”

On June 20, Longoria stopped by TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, where she opened up about her new Apple TV+ series "Land of Women," which premieres June 26.

The dramatic comedy, which features characters speaking both English and Spanish, tells the story of an American socialite who is forced to leave New York City with her daughter and her mother to live life on the run in a small Spanish village.

Longoria said acting in Spanish for the first time was "so hard," particularly since she had to speak Castilian Spanish, which is different than the Spanish spoken in Latin America.

"My brain hurt every day," she said.

She added that "being funny" in another language was a challenge for her.

"Like, the timing and the rhythm is very different in a different language," she said.

Longoria jokingly described how she had to be coached about where to place her accent when she spoke.

"But it's good because I play the American in Spain so I'm very much a fish out of water," she said. "So those mistakes, we started making fun of."

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY: