Director on Jennifer Lopez-Diego Luna chemistry: ‘And she gave him…’

Jennifer Lopez has been on many movie sets over the past few decades, but she was not just the star during the filming of "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and was rather the "mentor."

Director Bill Condon, speaking to People magazine at the movie's New York City premiere on October 6, said Lopez “took Diego under her wing” as soon as shooting began.

“Diego came into this as a non-dancer,” Condon said. “He's a great actor, but he shared his insecurity with Jennifer and she gave him a wonderful note.”

That exchange, Condon added, sparked an immediate chemistry between the two.

"It was beautiful to watch them grow closer. As the movie progressed, they'd just spend more time together, ” he recalled.

At 56, Lopez is no stranger to choreography. From In Living Color to her own music tours, dance has always been her second language. Luna, 45, leaned on that experience. “She just knows everything about musical performance, choreographers, staging, all of it,” Condon said. “She was a great sounding board for everyone on set.”

The movie also stars Tonatiuh, who plays Luna's fellow inmate. He described working with Lopez as watching lightning strikes. “Powerful and beautiful. You're just left in awe,” he told People magazine.

Kiss of the Spider Woman is an adaptation of the 1993 Tony-winning Broadway musical, which itself was based on the 1985 movie starring William Hurt, Raul Julia and Sonia Braga.

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The new version, directed by Condon, follows two prisoners - a Marxist revolutionary (Luna) and a gay window dresser (Tonatiuh) - in a repressive South American jail, who escape through fantasy. Lopez plays the glamorous movie star they imagine.

The project, produced under Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Artists Equity banner, marks another return to the big screen for Lopez after Atlas.

Condon said Kiss of the Spider Woman is “two movies in one,” a tribute to classic musicals and a deeply emotional drama.

“You want a full meal when you go to the movies,” he said. “This gives you the emotion, and then that big dollop of entertainment that makes it easier to take.”

Kiss of the Spider Woman released on October 10 in theaters.

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Condon said Lopez took Luna “under her wing,” helping him gain confidence as a non-dancer.

It follows two prisoners who escape their harsh reality through fantasies of a glamorous movie star, played by Lopez.

The cast includes Diego Luna and Tonatiuh, who praised Lopez's performance as “watching lightning strike.”

Source: HindustanTimes
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