Jennifer Lopez on Reading 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' Script for the First Time | THR Studio at Park City - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

'Kiss of the Spider Woman' director Bill Condon and stars Jennifer Lopez and Tonatiuh Elizarraraz stop by THR's studio at Park City. Condon reveals how he pitched the role to Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer dishes on what it was like reading the script for the first time.

Transcript

00:00I had not seen any of the Kiss of the Spider-Woman, okay? I didn't see the 80s version of it.

00:04I did not, I had not read the book. I didn't know the 80s version of it. My sister knew it.

00:10She came to my house and saw the script and she's like,

00:12are you fucking doing Kiss of the Spider-Woman? And she was like, over the moon. I was like, yes.

00:22For me, it's like so important. I think it's probably just an overcompensation thing of like,

00:27I have to come in and be perfect right off the bat. Like I like to know, I don't like to make

00:32mistakes. So I'm just like over prepared when I come in, which I think some actors like kind of

00:40find it as they're going. And that's a different process. And it's cool. Like I'm fine with that.

00:46Just for me, I'm a rehearser. I like to practice all the time. And so by the time I get there,

00:53I'm like, yeah, what are you doing? What are you doing? I'm ready. I'm ready. It just gives me

00:57more confidence. I remember you saying that. It's like, it only works for you if you've got

01:01it in your bones. Yeah. Right. And there was a terror that maybe we didn't have literally enough

01:06time to get it into the bones. It was terror. You found the time somehow. Do any of you have

01:11anything you have to do before the first day of a shoot of a production on set? I normally light

01:16Palo Santo right before just to like whatever negative energy or anything that's on me, I just

01:21get it off, leave it at home, don't bring it to set. And just a nice little green juice.

01:25It's just because I feel like once I'm on set, I forget to eat or I get so overwhelmed

01:29that I don't think of any of those things. So I'm like, at least I'm getting some idea

01:32of a vegetable.

01:34For me, every movie is different. I don't have any like set ritual. I just come in. I'm like,

01:40I said, super prepared and just kind of ready to go. I always like tell the first AD, I was

01:47like, I will be a little late to set, but we will make it up as we go along. I promise

01:51you. Cause once I get there, I'm not leaving the set. I'm not taking a break. I don't need

01:56lunch. I don't need anything. We, whatever, however you want to shoot forever long you

02:00want to shoot, I will be there. And so, yeah, that's my only thing on the first day. I always

02:05let them know, like, don't panic when I'm not out there right at the minute. But when

02:09I get there, it'll be great.

02:10But you're pretty close on this movie. It was crazy.

02:12We didn't have a lot of time.

02:13We didn't. Yeah. I have to say, I had, I had a sense just hearing over the years that

02:19Jennifer had a great interest in doing something like this. So that was, you know, you always

02:23have to convince yourself when you're sitting down alone, no deal. You're just doing it

02:27on your own, that there's a way to make the movie. And I think I was holding onto that

02:31idea that I think Jennifer wants to do something.

02:34Yeah. Yes. And he was right.

02:36Yeah. Yeah.

02:37He was right. And my agent just sent me the script, Kevin Huvane. And he was like, I have

02:40something that I think you're going to like. And I was like, all right, send it to me.

02:44You know, it's like, you know, sometimes it's yes. And sometimes it's no, most times it's

02:49no. And I get it. And I, and I was like, I called him back and I like, like maybe 30

02:55pages. And I go, is this mine? Or is this something that I'm going to have to like meet

03:02with or audition for? And he was like, no, they want you to, you know, Bill wants you to

03:06do it. And I was like, Bill Condon, Bill Condon wants me to do it. Okay. Okay.

03:09And I was ecstatic. I have been waiting. There was never a feeling in my life. I think maybe

03:18the closest thing, and I was too young to understand it was Selena. But beyond that, there was never

03:26a time where I felt like I sat down and read something and thought I was born to play this.

03:30You know, I like, this was meant for me. I have been waiting for this my whole life. And

03:36because I did, I grew up on movie musicals. My mother was a huge fan of Barbra Streisand

03:42and of Rita Moreno. And, and, and, and I just, it was in my bones. It's what I thought I was

03:49going to do with my life. I thought I was going to do Broadway. And I'm in my, you know, life

03:54took other turns and thank God it's been amazing. But to do this at this time is just like a dream

03:59come true.

04:01Did the scheduling, how did the scheduling work out? Because how far in advance is your life

04:05kind of booked out?

04:06It was tough. And Bill wanted to shoot it at a specific time. And I was like, the panic

04:13was, you know, will we have enough time to do it? And, and he was very confident. Thank

04:20God I was, you know, panicked, but we did it. And we, I cleared out, you know, some things

04:26and pushed a couple of things back just to be able to do it. You know, when you do these

04:30indie films, it's, it's all, you know, cart. It's, it's not about money. It's not about

04:36anything else, except like, I love this part. I love this script. I want to work with this

04:40director and I'm going to do it no matter what. And so we just buckled down and did

04:45it.

04:45The thing I remember you was like, I'm going to go home on the weekends. And it's

04:48like, that never happened.

04:50No, you, I tried to go home one weekend. And he was like, you can't go. I need you to rehearse

04:54this weekend. I was like, okay.

04:56But that was, it was amazing though. Like the dedication.

05:00No, we did. We were there.

05:01It's like summer camp. You know, winter, winter camp because it was all major.

05:04Do any of you remember the very first musical you saw?

05:08Uh, Singing in the Rain.

05:10Yeah. I mean, mine had to be West Side Story. It was the first one my mom showed me.

05:14Yeah. On stage, Mandel Matcha when I was 10 years old.

05:17Oh, wow.

05:18Did you see the Broadway version?

05:20No.

05:21Of Kiss of the Spider Woman?

05:22No, I hadn't, I had not seen any of the Kiss of the Spider Woman. Okay. I didn't see the

05:2680s version of it. I did not. I had not read the book. I didn't know the 80s version of

05:31it. My, my sister knew it. She came to my house and saw the script and she's like, are

05:35you fucking doing Kiss of the Spider Woman? And she was like over the moon. I was like,

05:39yes, I haven't told anybody yet, but I didn't know anything. So my first introduction to it

05:47was reading this kind of beautiful script of this story of these two men and this, you know,

05:51the way he described this beautiful Hollywood diva, you know, it was just like, oh, and she's

05:58saying, she says, how many musical numbers? Oh my God. Like it was just, it was my first

06:05introduction to it. And I just loved it. I loved what it said. I love that it was about love and

06:10seeing people for who they are and, and accepting them, um, without all the labels, without all the

06:16things just like, you mean something to me. I love you. I love your spirit. I love your soul.

06:22Um, and that bringing people together and heal, you know, kind of like, you know, healing any divide.

06:28That idea to me is such a big, beautiful idea that the world is so desperate for right now. Um,

06:36and to see it in this way with this, these big musical numbers in between is, is going to be,

06:41I think something really important. I think if people get to see it, I'm very excited about that.

06:47When was the first time you were starstruck or when was the first time you were recognized?

06:51For me, I was starstruck. I met Barbra Streisand. Obviously my mom was a huge Barbra Streisand fan.

06:57Funny Girl is probably my favorite musical. One of my favorite musicals, if not my favorite besides

07:02West Side Story of all time. Um, and I was very starstruck. She was just, you know, saying,

07:09how do you deal with being so famous? Cause I had had like my JLo album and all those things come out.

07:14And I was on, in the tabloids all the time. And she was, I was like, you're Barbra Streisand.

07:20What are you doing? Like, I couldn't even, I, it was like, I can't compute this, you know? Um,

07:24and the first time I got recognized, I mean, it started, it caused me tremendous anxiety because I

07:30was like walking down the street. It was right after I did the movie Selena and I had done television

07:35before that. And I had done other movies, but for some reason, Selena was the one that when I walk,

07:41I was just walking out of my apartment, going to like the store to buy ham or something like that.

07:48And on the way back, somebody was like, Jennifer, Jennifer. And I was like,

07:54and I'm like, I don't recognize the person. And they run up to me and I was like,

07:59oh my God. Who the fuck are you? Oh my God. It's terrifying. That's crazy.

08:05Like, like really scared. Like, and I'm like a young girl by myself, not young, youngish,

08:10you know what I mean? But I'm a young woman by myself. And I was like, and she was,

08:14and tried to touch you, hug you, you know, you're like, Whoa. And that was like, I,

08:21it was when it hit me. I was like, Oh, you're not anonymous person.

08:25Yeah. You're moving through the world in a different way now. And I crawled,

08:28I started having panic attacks. It was really a different thing to kind of grapple with in your

08:34mind that I think people are better with because of social media. Everybody's a little bit of their

08:39own star of their own channel. You know what I mean? But it's, it was, it was different then.

08:45It was different then. And it was terrifying. And it took me a minute to, I remember calling people

08:51and being like, how do you deal with this? How, what should I do? How do I get the panic feeling?

08:55You know, but eventually you get used to it and you learn how to learn how to navigate it.

09:00In college, uh, Tony Kushner came to campus and I was just like, uh, I wanted to come up and say

09:05hi and how much I loved his work. And I don't think I got a single word out. So that was really

09:09embarrassing. But then the first time that I got recognized, um, I was in a restaurant and I went

09:14to the restroom and somebody was in the Ural next to me and they were like, you're from promised land.

09:18And I was like, yeah. And he goes, can I take a picture? And I literally was like, um, can I,

09:24can I zip up first? Like, cause it's, he goes, yeah, of course, of course. It was, it was weird,

09:29but it was, I was one of those moments where I was like, okay, uh, well, I, I probably going to use

09:33the stall from now on. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, for me, I guess like you, Stephen Sondheim, I went over to his

09:38house one day for a meeting and it was just, oh my God, to be there and in that legendary place where

09:44he'd just written everything, you know, and to be offered a martini at 11 30 in the morning of,

09:50come on, absolutely. Please said he did. Yes, please. I did. Yeah.

Jennifer Lopez on Reading 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' Script for the First Time | THR Studio at Park City

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