Actress Eva Longoria is making her directorial debut with the film Flamin Hot set to premiere on Disney+ and Hulu on June 9th. After early viewers watched the film at the Canes Film Festival on Tuesday, May 23rd. So far the film has received praise from audiences and critics earning it a 69% on Rotten Tomatoes. Eva Longoria spoke about how female directors are treated in Hollywood, specifically Latina directors, and the comments that surface if the film fails to be a success at the box office.
She told Variety, “The problem is if this movie fails, people go, ‘Oh Latino stories don’t work…female directors really don’t cut it.’ We don’t get a lot of at-bats. A white male can direct a $200 million film, fail and get another one. That’s the problem. I get one at-bat, one chance, work twice as hard, twice as fast, twice as cheap.” In the U.S. 23.8 of the directors are female and of those only 1.3% are Latinas. I can’t speak for every Latina director but, I believe that they didn’t get into the film industry because they want to create the next blockbuster film or to have their film sell out in multiple theaters during its opening week. What matters is the story and how it’s told.
For years, Latinos in the film industry have been portrayed as the sidekick, the villain, or the funny best friend. Now that Latinos are behind the camera there is an opportunity for us to be the main character. Don’t forget to watch Flamin Hot either on Disney+ or Hulu.
Eva Longoria is no stranger to Hollywood's glaring double standards, and she's here to talk about it. https://t.co/SFyKmdAzy0
— Complex Pop Culture (@ComplexPop) May 25, 2023
