PARTING SHOT Jesse Garcia

EVERYTHING HAS A STORY, INCLUDING FLAMIN' HOT CHEETOS. IN FACT, the story behind the person who claims to have invented the flavor, Richard Montañez, was so good it warranted a film.

- H. Alan Scott

"We worked very hard to make sure that it was entertaining as well as telling Richard's story," says Jesse Garcia, who plays Montañez in the new Eva Longoria-directed film Flamin' Hot (June 9). "When I first got the script, I knew the part was mine." That's because Garcia connected to Montañez's story on a personal level. "He's Mexican American, he came from not much money, which I didn't either.... It's the same story a lot of us have." On the surface, the story is about the addictive spicy flavor. "It's like Mexican food. You get just the right amount of heat where people can't stop eating." But at its core it's a "universal" story. "It doesn't matter where you're