The actress and director's latest passion project tells the real-life story of the janitor who claimed to invent the popular snack.
Eva Longoria's new film, Flamin' Hot, is a passion project years in the making.
ET spoke with the actress and director at opening night of the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival on Wednesday, where she opened up about her feature directorial debut, which tells the real-life story of Richard Montañez, a former janitor at Frito-Lay who claims to have invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
"I'm so proud," she raved. "I'm proud of this story. I'm proud of this cast and crew.... It's a beautiful story. It's inspiring. It's complex. It's feel good. It's full of heart."
"We all have a story to tell," she added. "And it doesn't matter if you're a janitor or waiter, a valet, you know? Tell your stories."
Longoria even made the production a family affair, recently sharing a "day in the life" Instagram video which featured her mother, Ella, joining her for a day of sound mixing.
"She still doesn't understand what I do," the actress laughed. "She's like, 'But you're not in it?' And I'm like, 'No, Mom. I directed it.' So she's, like, very confused."
As for another important person in her life, son Santiago -- who turns five later this month -- Longoria admitted she's a "sad Mexican mother" due to the fact that he doesn't yet like spicy foods, and therefore, hasn't tried her film's titular snack.
"He's not into spicy yet," she lamented. "I was like, 'We've got to hurry up, you got to catch up to the spiciness!"
Flamin' Hot premieres June 9 on Hulu and Disney+.
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