Hot Ones is a seriously popular YouTube series that has hosted some major A-listers. The charismatic host, Sean Evans asks well-researched questions, but the real draw is the spicy wings the guest is tasked with eating during the interview. The wings get spicier and spicier with every question until the guests are practically melting. Apparently, a recreation of a Hot Ones interview was supposed to be featured in the new Netflix movie, A Family Affair, but it didn’t make the cut. Now, the film's director is explaining why.
In an interview with The Wrap, A Family Affair director Richard LaGravenese revealed that he shot an entire episode of the popular YouTube show with Evans for the project on the 2024 movie schedule. Efron was in character as Chris Cole, while the practically hot-wing immune Sean Evans conducted a Hot Ones interview like he would with any real celebrity guest. However, the interview will never see the light of day, as this ended up not making the final cut. Apparently, there was too much story to be told, and they couldn’t quite fit in a whole Hot Ones episode. The filmmaker explained:
We had originally shot a full episode of the ‘Hot Ones,’ which I’m sorry we don’t get to show, which was a full interview that Sean and Zac did together that was filled with a lot of funny improvs and things like that. But it was too time consuming and we couldn’t put the whole thing in there.
The clip was initially supposed to open the movie, integrated in with several other clips of Efron doing movie press from his real life. There is actually a small piece from this in the opening montage, however, the full episode was axed from the final cut.
Despite it not being featured in the movie, Efron and Evans apparently had a lot of fun with it, and the Hot Ones host was a great sport about it. LaGravenese said:
But that was part of what the opening was going to be. It was really fun. We had four cameras, and the two of them just went at it, like over and over. It was really fun to film, Sean was delightful. He was really great to work with.
As for shooting a fake episode of Hot Ones, this isn’t the first time someone has filmed an episode of it in character.
Maya Rudolph shot a fake episode of the show for her series Loot (which can be streamed with an Apple TV+ subscription) where she was in character as Molly Wells. The show has also been parodied on SNL, also with Maya Rudolph who played Beyoncé in the sketch.
It's a pretty hot show (no pun intended), so it makes sense why LaGravenese would want to feature it in A Family Affair. It is exactly the kind of press a character like Chris Cole would do begrudgingly, I just wish we got to see the whole thing.
While this episode may never become available to fans, there is still the very real episode of Zac Efron on Hot Ones from 2020. He was promoting his Quibi series Killing Zac Efron, which saw him venturing into dangerous jungles on remote islands.
As daring as that endeavor was, participating in a Hot Ones interview is also an intimidating challenge. Jennifer Lawrence described her own harrowing experience on the spicy wing show, and the aftermath of the situation, saying she "passionately threw up." Meanwhile, Efron was truly sweating in his episode, and tears were visible in his eyes as he approached his last wing. Hot Ones is not for the faint of heart, but Efron took it like a champ. I wonder if the Cole Chase character did as well with the spice.
You can see Zac Efron in A Family Affair by streaming it with a Netflix subscription. Fans can also check out Efron’s real Hot Ones interview as well as all other episodes on the First We Feast YouTube channel. For more information on other films heading to Netflix in the near future, make sure to consult our upcoming Netflix movie guide.
