Eva Longoria says the biggest challenge making her feature-length directional debut ‘Flamin’ Hot’ was “getting backing”.
The 48-year-old actress had a job on her hands pitching the movie about Latino Richard Montañez, a factory janitor-turned-marketing executive who channelled his Mexican heritage into the launch of the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto.
She told HELLO! magazine: “The biggest challenge in making any film is getting backing for it. No one has ever made a movie like this about Latinos, so it was important to me. It’s based on the story of Richard Montañez, a Mexican caretaker who became one of PepsiCo’s top executives, thanks, he says, to inventing Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, a billion-dollar brand.
“Richard had very little education but he knew that his culture was a superpower.”
Eva previously recalled how there were “no efforts” to include Latinos in films when she started her career.
The former ‘Desperate Housewives’ star told The Hollywood Reporter: “I’m like, ‘Well, I made one film, and we have a long way to go. Imagine when we have two films. Imagine when we have three films!’
“It wasn’t as big of a conversation as it is now. The word ‘diversity’ gets thrown around so much today. Back then, there were really no efforts or programs or initiatives.”
She added about her success in TV: “I became this poster child. ‘Yay! One of us made it! A Latina’s on a major show!’”
But Eva said her relentless filming schedule on ‘Desperate Housewives’ left her burned out.
She added: “I was like, ‘I can’t breathe.’ I had PTSD from 24 episodes a year.”
The ‘Housewives’ shooting schedule ran for roughly 11 months of the year, which put Eva off taking up more TV offers.
She added: “I got (offered) everything, and I turned everything down.”
Eva also said she feared being thought of as a “dumb” actor when she pivoted into directing.
She added: “The industry’s definitely wary of an actor coming in (to direct.) For me, it was about overcoming that. It wasn’t sexism or racism.
“It was like, ‘Here comes a dumb actor.’”