Eva Longoria isn’t merely gorgeous. Her body of work has proven that she can handle both comedy and drama. She even has live performance experience—check out Longoria’s appearance at Hot Tamales Live, a variety show she cocreated with comedian Kiki Melendez years before Housewives made her a star. In honor of Ms. Longoria’s birthday, here are some excellent photos of Eva looking great in a variety of roles.

Jane Lynch became an overnight sensation as Sue Sylvester on Glee. But as we all know, no one is an overnight sensation. (Except for Justin Bieber. But that’s different.) Check out what Jane was up to before Sue was even a glint in Glee creator Ryan Murphy’s eye.