Photo: Nicola Gell/Getty for SXSW

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 10: Eva Longoria attends “Raising the Bar: Public-Private Partnerships, Unlocking Career Success” during the 2023 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 10, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Nicola Gell/Getty Images for SXSW)

Eva Longoriafelt the pressure of being a first-time director.

Speaking at Kering’sWomen in Motion programat the Cannes Film Festival, Longoria, 48, said, perVariety, that she “felt the weight of my community” and “the weight of every female director” when making the movie.

“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,” she continued. “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,” said theDesperate Housewivesactress, who added that “you really carry the generational traumas with you into the making of the film.”

“For me, it fueled me. I was determined,” she said.

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“I can’t even believe it and I just can’t wait for more people to have access to see it,” she said.

Prior to that, at the premiere, Longoria told PEOPLE that the movie’s “script and story found its way to me and to my heart, and I was like, ‘I have to tell this story.’ "

Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

Eva Longoria attends the Gold House 2nd Annual Gold Gala

“I have such interest in all the themes that we explore in the movie: underdog story, rags to riches, adversity, and overcoming obstacles,” she explained. “All of those things that I was like — these are the themes I want to explore and this is the story I want to tell it through.”

“At the same time, it’s huge pop culture,” Longoria added. “It’s one of those origin stories that makes you want to go buy the product. As opposed to, ‘I’m never buying that again.’ It’s a beautiful origin story that you go, ‘Wow.’ You get really inspired and motivated to go, ‘Why not me? I can.’ "

Flamin' Hotdebuts on Hulu and Disney+ June 9.

source: people.com