Posted in: Disney, Exclusive, Hulu, Movies | Tagged: Annie Gonzalez, Eva Longoria, exclusive, Flamin' Hot, Frito Lay, interview, Jesse Garcia, Linda Yvette Chávez, Tony Shalhoub

Flamin' Hot Writer on Bringing Richard Montañez's Life to Screen

Writer Linda Yvette Chávez talks to Bleeding Cool on the success story of Frito Lay's Richard Montañez to life in Hulu/Disney+'s Flamin' Hot.

When Linda Yvette Chávez heard about the inspiring story of former Frito Lay janitor and Flamin' Hot Cheetos creator Richard Montañez, it reminded her of her struggles and perseverance as a writer trying to break into Hollywood. Branching off her success from her Netflix series Gentefied, actress and director Eva Longoria sought her out to tell Montañez's to life in a feature film for Hulu and Disney+ called Flamin' Hot. Chávez spoke to Bleeding Cool about Longoria's persistence in recruiting her, the creative liberties in telling Montañez's story, and her success story.

How 'Flamin' Hot' is a Story in the American Dream

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration for 'Flamin' Hot?'
Chávez: It's based on Richard Montañez, the creator of the Flamin' Hot Cheeto. It came to me through Eva Longoria almost four years ago, which is crazy. It was the summer of 2019, which was at the tail end…I was doing posts on the first season of my show 'Gentefied,' and [her people] came to me, and I was about to undergo surgery. They told me, "Eva Longoria wants to talk to you about this movie, 'Flamin' Hot.' The one about Hot Cheetos? They were like, "Yeah."

I told them about the surgery that was happening, and I could not do it. Eva waited for me because she had read a script I had written called 'I Am Not Your Mexican Daughter,' an adaptation that America Ferrera will be directing. She loved that voice and said, "I want that voice for this film." She brought me in, and I met Richard and Judy [Montañez]. This is Richard's story of him coming up from nothing to create something that has become a global sensation and for him to become the godfather of Latino marketing in this industry. This is a beautiful love story also between a man, his wife, and his family, and it's funny and dramatic. It makes you laugh and cry.

It's always great to see success stories come to life. There are always some embellishments due to it being Hollywood. Did you have to do much as far as creative liberties?
A movie must be exciting, with ups and downs and a strong arc. You must have character relationships that are going to be exciting. If you told a story exactly how someone told you their life, you'd be a little bit bored waiting for those exciting moments. I went in and had a conversation with Richard, and for me, it was about mining the moment, so we're going to be excited in a film. Luckily, he has a lot of freaking exciting moments in his life. There are a lot of true stories in there about what he experienced. Most of my job was capturing those moments and putting them in the right place. That made sense for a strong story down to the moment of the trailer at the end. He talks about going to a trailer, getting cookies, and getting in a different line.

At one point, that was a story we would physically show as a flashback. I love that story so much, but we had to cut it. It was that or the burrito story from when he was a kid. I was like, "How can I repurpose this story?" When that moment came of him having to get that phone number of Roger (Tony Shalhoub) and Rico make that call, I was like, "This is where we used that story in a video at that moment." There are a lot of these things that are from his and Judy's life. The job was, "How do I make those exciting moments hit at the right times of his story so that we as an audience get to live in the excitement of every moment of his life and what he's experiencing? Eva's an incredible leader and helping guide me and support me in supporting me and finding that story.

Was it always just conceived as a movie, or were there talks maybe to do like a limited series where you could tell extrapolate more for the life?
It came to me as a film though I'm sure Richard would love for it to be turned into a show [laughs]. That's what I went into it with, which made sense for what it is and what the story is. Richard has so much experience, and it was hard to put it all, containing it all into one story for this film. He does have the type of story that could last episodes, but we told the story of him creating it and getting to where he got to, and it makes for a powerful, powerful one.

Can you speak about the cast itself and how they worked well into the roles?
Jesse [Garcia] nailed it. He's like Richard. I saw him do his audition. I saw the first cuts of things. I was like, "Wow! Jesse embodied who Richard was, and he's been in the business for a while. He's been in many things, but at that moment, this role allows him to shine in his craft. All the layers of who he is and what he can accomplish. I'm excited for him and for this role in this film. Annie Gonzalez, I have known for ten-plus years now. She was one of my best friends and played Lydia in my series' Gentefied.'

I stayed out of as they were doing through casting until the end. Eva said, "I didn't even know you were best friends." I responded, "That's because I do not influence any of those things." I wasn't surprised that she made it to the end. When I saw the audition tapes, I was like, "Wow! She's Judy. This is her role." There's no one I would trust more with the role than the nanny. Jesse and Annie both take their craft seriously and work hard. It's exciting to be able to write roles for people in my community who deserve to have meaty, exciting roles that they get to perform. I hope I get to do that forever, but they were incredible. Everybody else in that film is so funny. Tony Shalhoub as Roger Enrico is so awesome. We have Brice Gonzalez as his son [Steven]. All these people are just incredible. I was happy with everyone who was in the cast.

What was it like working with Eva as a creative partner?
Eva is a freaking visionary. She had a deck ready to go. She wanted to be more comedic. She wanted to do many of her references to Adam McKay and [Martin] Scorsese, whom I admire profoundly. I was super excited about the vision she had for the film. When I met her, and then I was like, "Girl, you're like my prima! You're like my cousin! You're so dope!" She is so down-to-earth, so sweet and funny. She's got jokes and ideas for days. She's like an Energizer bunny. She comes in, like, "I was thinking this, and I was thinking that," and the cool thing about me is what I'm good at being like, "Let me catch that. Let me catch that look. Try to put it into what I'm trying to achieve or the essence of what you're saying. I get what you're trying to say. Let me put my sauce on it."

What was great about her was that we both had a similar comedic aesthetic or voice to Richard's. It was natural for us to, like, go into it together. She is also very protective of my creative space. She let me go and tell the story. As I got the information, we'd have our meetings, and then I'd go into my cave and write. She protected that space, trusted me as the writer, and trusted my script. She leaned things I put down on the page, and I admire that about her. She knows who to pick to tell a story she wants to tell, and then she knows how to execute her vision in the best way possible for me; it was a beautiful experience working with her. She was fun, hilarious, and sweet. While she's been in the business for a while as an actor, she will keep rising as a director, and it's exciting.

Since you came to the industry, can you speak about the opportunities that presented for you as a writer and your experience?
Richard's story is mine, and Eva would say the same thing. That battle is to be acknowledged. That battle to know that your cultural background and who you are is important. Those lines where he's like, "We want you to know that we want you to let us feel that we're important and that we matter. I always feel that stuff with my work where it's like, "Do I matter? Do my stories matter? Are they important? So many times, that belief has to come from me. I must have that faith. That it's important and that it matters in the same way that Richard does in the film. He believes that "My idea, family, and community matter." In the post-Trump years, things got a little bit easier because people started to understand a lot of the oppression happening for so many people and how doors were closed for us.

More people started to open doors because they began to realize what that meant. There was much more interest in our stories; before that, there was not so much. It was hard for me to break in, and I gave up at some point right before 'Gentefied' came into my life. I was like, "Peace out on this industry. This shit is too hard. I'm out." Eight years ago, I got into the Film Independent Lab and was introduced to Marvin. He told me about MACRO, run by Charles King, the first black partner at WME, who then left and started MACRO. He was looking for someone to develop the Seed of an idea for This digital series.

I went because I was like, "It's paid; I need some money." Charles and MACRO were like, "Do your thing. Tell your story the way that you want to tell it." That was a beautiful experience, and that was the thing that launched my whole career and 'Gentefied.' From there, 'Flamin' Hot,' 'Mexican Daughter,' and all these other things, like my deal on 20th [Century Studios] and being able to develop all these different types of creative projects. The doors are a lot more open now, and that comes from showing people that our stories matter, are beloved, and want to see them. I feel in my heart that 'Flamin' Hot' will do the same thing. Our feedback has been incredible, so I can't wait for it to do the same. I hope the doors keep opening because it's been a daily struggle for anyone in this industry. Like Richard, we're to keep beating down those doors until we make it to the top.

Co-written by Lewis Colick and Montañez Flamin' Hot, which also stars Emilio Rivera, Vanessa Martinez, and Dennis Haysbert, is available to stream on Hulu & Disney+.

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