Eva Longoria has shifting her focus to behind the camera, utilizing the experience she’s gained directing episode television for her feature directorial debut with “Flamin’ Hot”.
Telling the true story of how Mexican-American Frito-Lay janitor Richard Montañez made snack food history by drawing upon his cultural heritage for the invention of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Longoria recently spoked at the Kering Women in Motion talk during the 2023 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, where she put Hollywood on blast for the doors she’s had to kick in as a Latina female with aspirations to direct.
“We don’t get a lot of bites at the apple,” Longoria said of Latina directors, as reported by Variety.
“My movie wasn’t low budget by any means — it wasn’t $100 million, but it wasn’t $2 million. When was the last Latina-directed studio film? It was like 20 years ago. We can’t get a movie every 20 years,” she continued.
— Photo: Emily Aragones / © Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
“The problem is if this movie fails, people go, ‘Oh Latino stories don’t work… female directors really don’t cut it,'” she added.
“We don’t get a lot of at-bats. A white male can direct a $200-million film, fail and get another one. That’s the problem. I get one at-bat, one chance, work twice as hard, twice as fast, twice as cheap,” Longoria stated.
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Eva Longoria On Portraying The Image Of A Hero With Her Film ‘Flamin’ Hot’
“You really carry the generational traumas with you into the making of the film,” Longoria said. “For me, it fuelled me. I was determined.”
“Flamin’ Hot” debuts Friday, June 9.
