Diane Warren has written hit songs for the soundtracks to movies from Mannequin to Armageddon. She has three original songs in 2023 movies, but her song for Flamin’ Hot is especially personal.
Warren said she wrote “The Fire Inside” because she related to the movie’s subject. Flamin’ Hot is inspired by the story of Richard Montañez, who’s said to have invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while working as a janitor at Frito-Lay.
Eva Longoria directed the film. “It’s such the American dream,” Warren said Thursday at Deadline’s Sound and Screen event. “When I wrote the song, it was kind of like my anthem too.
The fire inside is a double entendre.” On the surface, Montañez was motivated by the spice of Latin food. But Warren said the real fire inside is the passion any artist has to persevere. “You need passion because when you have the fire inside nothing can stop you,” the 14-time Academy Award nominee and recent Honorary Oscar winner said.
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