Jesse Garcia (‘Flamin’ Hot’) on his ‘huge undertaking’ to play Richard Montañez: ‘We didn’t have the luxury to fail’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Jesse Garcia has earned high praise for starring in the rags-to-riches story of Frito Lay executive Richard Montañez, but it may come as a surprise that the “Flamin’ Hot” actor was more familiar with the man behind the spicy Cheetos than the chips themselves. “I don’t really eat snacks like that,” he confesses. “I had five hot Cheetos during the production of the movie and that was it. I didn’t have one before and I haven’t had one since.” Watch his exclusive video interview with Gold Derby above.
In the inspiring true story directed by Eva Longoria, Garcia plays Richard, a Frito Lay janitor who disrupted the food industry by channeling his Mexican heritage to turn Flamin’ Hot Cheetos from a snack into an iconic global pop culture phenomenon.
More from GoldDerby
Although Garcia grew up in Wyoming and Montañez in Southern California, the actor could still relate to the struggles of growing up poor. “We didn’t have any money,” he reveals. “My dad worked construction, he worked on ranches, he put himself through school to do bodywork on cars. My family did whatever they could to survive. My mom was a housekeeper. She used to give out sample chocolates at the grocery store. That was one of her side gigs where she could bring us. Richard’s journey from not having any money and not coming from much parallels mine.”
While we see Garcia play Montañez over the course of four decades, the actor says the mental health aspect was the most difficult for him to manage. “It’s a huge undertaking,” he admits. “Nobody knew. Eva didn’t didn’t know. I had to make sure to take care of myself. [To make sure] I wasn’t going to have a breakdown. There were big speeches that I had to get right otherwise the rest of it doesn’t work. I had to get them right. It’s the hardest movie, the hardest project that I’ve done. There was a lot riding on it. We didn’t have the luxury to fail on this movie. We had to get it right.”
The actor also recalls fond memories working with Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens), who died of cancer on July 30, in the revival of “The Pee-wee Herman” show on Broadway. “I’m of a generation where I grew up watching ‘The Pee-wee Herman Show,'” he says. “He’s one of the sweetest human beings ever. He would write to me and send me a video every birthday. The last one I got from him is super, super sweet. I didn’t know [he was sick]. I didn’t see it coming.”
“Flamin’ Hot” is currently available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.
PREDICT the 2024 Oscar nominees through January 23
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Best of GoldDerby
Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
