‘Flamin’ Hot’ Star Jesse Garcia on Why Latino Projects Don’t Have ‘the Luxury of Failing’ and That Cheetos Controversy
variety.comAdam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer The first time Jesse Garcia (“Quinceañera,” “Narcos: Mexico”) learned about Richard Montañez — the former Frito-Lay executive who’s said that he invented the wildly successful Flamin’ Hot Cheetos brand when he was working as a janitor for the company — the actor immediately thought, “That would be an awesome movie.” Years later, Eva Longoria cast Garcia to play Montañez for her feature directing debut, “Flamin’ Hot,” which premieres June 9 on Hulu and Disney+.
The film, produced by DeVon Franklin (“Breakthrough,” “Miracles From Heaven”), covers Richard’s life from his difficult childhood to his marriage to his high school sweetheart Judy (Annie Gonzalez) to his rise at Frito-Lay.
For Garcia, it was an all-too-rare opportunity to depict the real-life story of a Latino family in a mainstream feature film. “Non-Latino projects, they have the luxury of failing,” Garcia says. “But if our work doesn’t work — or if for some reason is not successful — it’s a struggle to get the next project.
That’s why ‘Flamin’ Hot’ was so super, super important to Eva, to me, to DeVon, to the rest of the creative team. If we make this movie as a success, [the studio execs] go, ‘OK, let’s see more.
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