Eva Longoria's 'Flamin' Hot' cooks up heartwarming origin story of family, culture, dreams, Cheetos

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES -- The new movie "Flamin' Hot" is inspired by the story of Richard Montanez, an ex-con and former gang member, who became a janitor at the Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Along the way, according to director Eva Longoria, he had a hand in creating Flamin' Hot Cheetos - how much of a hand has been debated, but this movie is told from Montanez' point of view.

Longoria saw a bigger picture in setting out to tell this story.

"It has a lot of heart and humor. And it also is a great representation of who we are as a Mexican American culture and everything we do to contribute to this country," said Longoria.

DeVon Franklin is the film's producer, and says he was impressed with how prepared Longoria was to work on the project.

"She came in with the binder and the script and it was dog-eared on almost every page and to her credit, you know? And she has a master's in Chicano Studies, so she came in and gave me a master class on what was right about the movie but what needed to be improved," said Franklin.

Longoria is especially proud of the team she worked with behind the scenes who built a realistic-looking factory where much of the movie takes place.

"We watched a lot of YouTube videos to get it right," said Longoria. "Richard came on set one day, he goes, 'Whoa! I think you could actually make potato chips here!' And we were, like, yes! We got it right!"

"Flamin' Hot" debuts on Hulu and Disney+ Friday.