'I have to tell this story': Eva Longoria reveals why she made her directorial debut 'Flamin' Hot' at SXSW Film Festival
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Eva Longoria has been known to have directed many famous TV shows like 'Black-ish' and 'Why Women Kill'. She dived into the world of films with her feature-directional debut 'Flamin' Hot'. The movie had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival on March 11 and Longoria did her best to navigate the controversy surrounding the subject of the film without even mentioning the name. The movie is based on the story of Frito-Lay's executive Richard Montañez who was played by Jesse Garcia last seen in 'Narcos: Mexico'. Montañez had come out to make a statement that he was the one behind the invention of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos when he was working as a Janitor for the company.
'Flamin' Hot' is a 2023 American biographical drama film directed by Eva Longoria, and written by Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette. It stars Jesse Garcia, Annie Gonzalez, Emilio Rivera, Dennis Haysbert, Matt Walsh, and Tony Shalhoub in the lead.
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'Flamin' Hot' was never about the history of Cheetos
The story behind the creation of Hot Cheetos is something straight out of an inspiring movie. It is said that the son of Mexican migrants in California - Richard Montañez invented Flamin' Cheetos variant when inspired by Mexican corn while working as a janitor in a Frito-Lay factory and that this creation led him to become vice president of multicultural sales and promotions of the PepsiCo-owned company until 2019 when he left the company. The controversy involved an LA Times report titled 'The Man Who Didn't Invent Flamin 'Hot Cheetos', which stated that there is no evidence that Mexican-Americans were the sole inventor of spicy Cheetos. After the premiere, a Q&A session ensued and Director Eva Longoria addressed the controversy without mentioning the source, "We didn’t want to do the history of the Cheeto," she said. "We wanted to do Richard’s story. It’s an amazing story. It’s compelling. It’s inspiring. It’s complex. It was easy to honor that," according to Variety.
Montañez’s story inspired Eva Longoria
Since 2014, Eva Longoria has been directing TV shows, up until she came across the story of Richard Montañez, when she considered directing the film narrating his story, "I was so blown away by the adversity Richard faced and how he overcame it throughout his whole life," she said. "It feels like he shouldn’t even be alive, much less successful. And I was like, 'Oh my god, and he’s Mexican-American, like me!' I was like, 'I have to tell this story.'"
Searchlight Pictures is all set to release 'Flamin' Hot' on Hulu on June 9.