Director Eva Longoria’s debut with “Flamin Hot” doesn’t start off like your usual movie. As the opening role, it seemed casual enough, given the drummer role of Searchlight Pictures, a rhythm that audiences everywhere know. But when the trumpets sounded, the classical tune was switched from the traditional march to the mariachi-gritas and all. It was a clear sign that what was to come had a different flavor, a distinctly Mexican perspective.
“My North Star is authenticity,” Longoria told POPSUGAR of creating the biopic about Richard Montañez and his wife Judy as he rises from a janitor at Frito Lay to a CEO, thanks to his insight into the Latine community and our untapped market potential in the spicy snack arena.
Longoria shared that when directing the film, it was really important to her that they capture all the cultural details right. She wanted the film to be like a love letter to Richard Montañez and the community. Everything matters from the music, props, costumes and production design – even the look of the house.
“I felt pressured to get the story right, not just for Richard’s sake and to do justice for him, but you know, if this movie doesn’t work, the studios will say, ‘Oh yeah. , stories about Latinos do not fit. , Latino storytellers aren’t that good,'” Longoria said.
She takes her responsibility seriously, insisting, “Hollywood defines what heroes look like, and they never looked like Richard. They never looked like us. And so to have a chance to create a hero who looks like my dad and sounds like my uncle, this would be an opportunity I wouldn’t waste.”
Longoria did that by hiring people she thought were smarter than her. “My motto on set is that the best idea wins. I think 10 brains are better than one,” she said. And so she assembled what she calls “a bunch of crazy Latinos” who understand the mission, take the stakes, and give it their all. Longoria called the resulting film “a festival of love.”
An integral part of that team is lead actor Jesse Garcia, who plays Robert Montañez in the film. “I read the script and it felt like it was written for me,” Garcia told POPSUGAR while explaining how he relates to the Mexican-American story of poverty becoming rich. “My family isn’t rich either. People have to do what they have to do to make ends meet. We moved a lot while my dad was looking for work. And my parents would sell burrito at the door. my dad’s shop. school. So we did all the same things that Richard and Judy did. So I relate to it that way.”
Likewise, Annie Gonzalez, who plays Judy Montañez, told POPSUGAR that when she read the script, she thought, “I know this woman, it’s me. That’s my mother. That’s his idea. I.” She goes on to clarify what makes the Judy version of “Flamin’ Hot” so special:
“In Latino households, we, especially women, are made to be everything. We’re the soft landing pad and we’re the iron fist that helps you push. And I feel for you. It feels like we’re very rarely seen on screen. We live it in our everyday lives. But how often do we find ourselves portrayed that way?” she speaks. “A lot of times, we have people who don’t look like us tell our story and/or write our story to us. And they’re usually a note. I feel like a lot of stories. that we tell “saw on TV, we’re either saints or we’re whores.”
But Judy is none of those things, a woman married to her childhood sweetheart, immersed in the chola life, and during her pregnancy she pushed herself and her husband down a less dangerous path. . Indeed, “Flamin’ Hot” contains so much cultural realism that it feels like a warm embrace of culture, a gift from Longoria and her team to the Latine community, especially are Mexican-American communities who are not used to seeing themselves represented this way on screen.
And it’s not just stylistic choices – though the music, the hairstyle, the outfit, it’s all there. “Flamin’ Hot” also demonstrates its commitment to the community by exploring Latine themes and what it truly means to be Chicano in California throughout the decades. When Robert started working at Frito Lay as a janitor, he searched around for allies to help him level up. All Latinos have similar jobs to him, but he has his eye on Clarence, played by Dennis Haysbert, a Black engineer who has to be twice as good to get half way. Clarence begins to be skeptical of the eager and ambitious newcomer but Roger wins him over, eventually receiving the term “brother” that the then-gatekeeper originally applied to his superiors ta.
It’s the kind of interracial alliance that Hollywood rarely portrays, even when it’s common in real life. In fact, “Flamin’ Hot” begins with producer DeVon Franklin, who met Robert Montañez and told POPSUGAR, “I just promised him I’d finish your movie. And that’s because because I feel as if his story has moved me, it can also move others.”
It was Franklin who introduced Longoria and she joked, “I’d say we’re Clarence and Richard,” Franklin interjected, “It’s amazing how art imitates life and life imitates art in together we do this and bring this to the world and Richard and Clarence (or Julius as his real name) helped bring “Flamin’ Hot” to the world. great when it’s really about reaching out and working together. We’re definitely stronger than the sum of our parts.”
It’s an inspirational message throughout the film, a positive outlook that is contagious when you watch “Flamin’ Hot”. This makes sense because Longoria said she wants audiences to “go away feeling super excited.”
“If you see Richard’s life and everything he’s been through and how he deals with all sorts of racist and classist situations with dignity and grace, you’d say, ‘Well, that guy made it, survived and thrived. Imagine what I could do.’ Longoria said.
Gonzalez shared an additional goal. She told POPSUGAR, she wanted Latine audiences to see the film “to understand that they are the hero they’re looking for. That they’re beautifully made, wonderful, and perfect. That superheroes look like them. like many different things. And sometimes we wear capes and sometimes we wear aprons and sometimes we hold brooms. We’re never just one thing and we’re super strong.”
“Flamin’ Hot” celebrates that power, celebrating the potential of our community from beginning to end. And that’s a beautiful thing to look at.
“Flamin Hot” releases on Hulu and Disney+ on June 9.
