During a recent chat with Audacy’s The Morning Mess on B96 in Chicago, Eva Longoria along with Matt Walsh discussed their brand new movie Flamin’ Hot.
LISTEN NOW: Eva Longoria and Matt Walsh join The Morning Mess to talk Flamin' Hot
Eva’s new film follows the story of Richard Montañez, the son of a Mexican immigrant who was a janitor at Frito Lay when, inspired by the flavors of his community, he came up with the idea for Flamin' Hot Cheetos and disrupted the food industry.
Chatting about the music in the film, Eva shared that getting that part right was “really important” to her. “We had a great consultant… a DJ from LA.” To whom Eva expressed, “I want this to be a Chicano soundtrack, like it has to have everybody that we grew up with in it, cause there’s a specific sound to our community.” Also noting that “Vanessa Perry, who’s Latina, was our music supervisor was along for the ride,” Longoria added, sharing she suggested tracks like “Mexican Power” by Proper Dos and more.
Another part that Eva knew she had to get right was the casting, which she happens to be very proud of, with the cast ranging from OG’s like Emilio Rivera and Jesse Garcia to newcomers like Annie Gonzalez and Bobby Soto.
“It’s a really inspiring movie, people are gonna love the lessons,” Eva said of her directorial debut film. Adding she didn’t choose it, “this story chose me.”
“I didn’t know Richard Montañez’s story and I’m Chicana, but I’m from Texas. And I was kind of ashamed I didn’t know it.” Eva continued, “how did I not know that this man from our community did this amazing thing, created the number one snack in the world that's a multi-billion dollar product, and he was the janitor at the factory.”
"To go from a janitor to a major executive in a company and work there for 42 years (he just retired), it’s the American dream,” inspiring Eva to make the movie as a “love letter for our community.”
“Hollywood gets to decide what heroes look like, and they never look like Richard, or they never look like us, they’re never brown, they never sound like my tío. So this was a chance for me to create a hero for us.”
For all that and lots more listen to the entire conversation above.
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