'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.
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00:00I had not seen any of the Kiss of the Spider Woman, okay?
00:02I didn't see the 80s version of it.
00:04I did not, I had not read the book.
00:06I didn't know the 80s version of it.
00:08My 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?
00:14And she was like, over the moon.
00:16I was like, yes.
00:22For me, it's like so important.
00:24I think it's probably just an overcompensation thing of like,
00:27I have to come in and be perfect right off the bat.
00:30Like I like to know, I don't like to make mistakes.
00:33So I'm just like over prepared when I come in,
00:37which I think some actors like kind of find it as they're going.
00:41And that's a different process.
00:43And it's cool.
00:44Like, I'm fine with that.
00:46Just for me, I'm a rehearser.
00:48I like to practice all the time.
00:51And so by the time I get there, I'm like, yeah, what are you doing?
00:54What are you doing?
00:55I'm ready.
00:55I'm ready.
00:56It just gives me more confidence.
00:58I remember you saying that.
00:59It's like, it only works for you if you've got it in your bones.
01:02Yeah.
01:02Right.
01:03And there was a terror that maybe we didn't have
01:05literally enough time to get it into the bones.
01:07It was terrible.
01:08You found the time.
01:10Do any of you have anything you have to do
01:11before the first day of a shoot of a production on set?
01:16I normally light a bottle of Santo right before just to like,
01:18whatever negative energy or anything that's on me, I just get it off.
01:22Leave it at home.
01:23Don't bring it to set.
01:24And just a nice little green juice.
01:25Because 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.
01:31So I'm like, at least I'm getting some idea of a vegetable.
01:34For me, every movie is different.
01:35I don't have any like set ritual.
01:38I just come in.
01:39I'm like, I said, super prepared and just kind of ready to go.
01:44I always like tell the first AD, I was like, I will be a little late to set,
01:49but we will make it up as we go along.
01:51I promise you, because once I get there, I'm not leaving the set.
01:54I'm not taking a break.
01:55I don't need lunch.
01:56I don't need anything.
01:58Whatever, however you want to shoot, for however long you want to shoot,
02:01I will be there.
02:01And so, yeah, that's my only thing on the first day.
02:04I always let them know, like, don't panic when I'm out there right at the minute.
02:08But when I get there, it'll be great.
02:10But you're pretty close on this movie.
02:11It was crazy.
02:12We didn't have a lot of time.
02:13We didn't.
02:13Yeah.
02:14Yeah.
02:14I have to say, I had a sense just hearing over the years that
02:18Jennifer had a great interest in doing something like this.
02:22So that was, you know, you always have to convince yourself
02:24when you're sitting down alone, no deal, you're just doing it on your own,
02:28that there's a way to make the movie.
02:29And I think I was holding on to that idea
02:32that I think Jennifer wants to do something like this, you know?
02:34Yes.
02:35And he was right.
02:36Yeah.
02:36He was right.
02:37And my agent just sent me the script, Kevin Huvane.
02:40And he was like, I have something that I think you're going to like.
02:43And I was like, all right, send it to me.
02:44You know, it's like, you know, sometimes it's yes.
02:47And sometimes it's no.
02:48Most times it's no.
02:49And I get it.
02:51And I was like, I called him back and I like maybe 30 pages in and I go,
02:58is this mine or is this something that I'm going to have to like
03:01meet with or audition for?
03:03And he was like, no, they want you to, you know, Bill wants you to do it.
03:06And I was like, Bill Condon, Bill Condon wants me to.
03:08OK, OK.
03:10And I was ecstatic.
03:12I had been waiting.
03:13There was never a feeling in my life.
03:17I think maybe the closest thing.
03:19And I was too young to understand it was Selena.
03:23But beyond that, there was never a time where I felt like I sat down
03:27and read something and thought I was born to play this.
03:30You know, I like this was meant for me.
03:33I have been waiting for this my whole life.
03:36And because I did, I grew up on movie musicals.
03:39My mother was a huge fan of Barbra Streisand and Rita Moreno.
03:44And I just it was in my bones.
03:48It's what I thought I was going to do with my life.
03:50I thought I was going to do Broadway.
03:51And I'm in my, you know, life took other turns.
03:55And thank God it's been amazing.
03:57But to do this at this time is just like a dream come true.
04:01Did the scheduling?
04:02How did the scheduling work out?
04:03Because how far in advance is your life kind of booked out?
04:06It was tough.
04:07And Bill wanted to shoot it at a specific time.
04:10And I was like, the panic was, you know, will we have enough time to do it?
04:16And he was very confident.
04:20Thank God I was, you know, panicked.
04:23But we did it.
04:23And I cleared out, you know, some things and pushed a couple of things back
04:28just to be able to do it.
04:29You know, when you do these indie films, it's all, you know, heart.
04:34It's not about money.
04:35It's not about anything else except like, I love this part.
04:38I love this script.
04:39I want to work with this director.
04:41And I'm going to do it no matter what.
04:43And so we just buckled down and did it.
04:45Then I remember you were like, I'm going to go home on the weekends.
04:48And it's like, that never happened.
04:50I tried to go home one weekend.
04:52And he was like, you can't go.
04:54I need you to rehearse this weekend.
04:55I was like, OK.
04:57But it was amazing, though, the dedication.
04:59No, we did.
05:00We were there.
05:00Like summer camp.
05:01You know, winter camp.
05:03Do any of you remember the very first musical you saw?
05:09Singing in the Rain.
05:10Yeah.
05:11I mean, mine had to be West Side Story.
05:12It was the first one my mom showed me.
05:14Yeah.
05:14On stage, Madeleine Muncher, when I was 10 years old.
05:17Oh, wow.
05:17Did you see the Broadway version of Kiss of the Spider Woman?
05:22No, I had not seen any of the Kiss of the Spider Woman.
05:25OK, I didn't see the 80s version of it.
05:27I did not.
05:28I had not read the book.
05:29I didn't know the 80s version of it.
05:31My sister knew it.
05:32She came to my house and saw the script.
05:34And she's like, are you fucking doing Kiss of the Spider Woman?
05:36And she was like, over the moon.
05:39I was like, yes.
05:41I haven't told anybody yet.
05:43But I didn't know anything.
05:45So my first introduction to it was reading this kind of beautiful script
05:48of this story of these two men and this, you know,
05:51the way he described this beautiful Hollywood diva, you know.
05:55I was just like, oh.
05:57And she's saying, how many musical numbers?
06:00Yes.
06:01Oh, my God.
06:01Like, it was just, it was my first introduction to it.
06:06And I just loved it.
06:06I loved what it said.
06:08I loved that it was about love and seeing people for who they are
06:12and accepting them without all the labels, without all the things.
06:16Just like, you mean something to me.
06:19I love you.
06:19I love your spirit.
06:20I love your soul.
06:22And that bringing people together and heal, you know, kind of like, you know,
06:27healing any divide, that idea to me is such a big,
06:31beautiful idea that the world is so desperate for right now.
06:36And to see it in this way with these big musical numbers in between
06:40is going to be, I think, something really important.
06:44I think if people get to see it, I'm very excited about that.
06:47When was the first time you were starstruck
06:48or when was the first time you were recognized?
06:51For me, I was starstruck.
06:53I met Barbra Streisand.
06:54Obviously, my mom was a huge Barbra Streisand fan.
06:57Funny Girl is probably my favorite musical, one of my favorite musicals,
07:01if not my favorite besides West Side Story of all time.
07:05And I was very starstruck.
07:08She was just, you know, saying,
07:09how do you deal with being so famous?
07:11Because I had like my J-Lo album and all those things come out.
07:14And I was on in the tabloids all the time.
07:17And she was, I was like, you're Barbra Streisand.
07:19What are you doing?
07:20Like, I couldn't even, it was like, I can't compute this, you know.
07:24And the first time I got recognized, I mean, it caused me tremendous anxiety
07:30because I was like walking down the street.
07:31It was right after I did the movie Selena.
07:34And I had done television before that.
07:36And I had done other movies.
07:38But for some reason, Selena was the one that when I walk,
07:41I'm just walking out of my apartment, going to like the store to buy ham
07:47or something like that.
07:48And on the way back, somebody was like, Jennifer, Jennifer.
07:52And I was like, and I'm like, I don't recognize the person.
07:57And they run up to me.
07:58And I was like, oh, my God, who the fuck are you?
08:02Oh, my God.
08:03It's terrifying.
08:04That's crazy.
08:05Like, like really scared.
08:07Like, and I'm like a young girl by myself, not young, youngish.
08:10You know what I mean?
08:11But I'm a young woman by myself.
08:12And I was like, and she was trying to touch you, hug you.
08:17You know, you're like, whoa.
08:19And that was like, I, it was when it hit me.
08:22I was like, oh, you're an anonymous person.
08:24Now you're moving to the world.
08:25Yeah, you're moving through the world in a different way now.
08:27And I started having panic attacks.
08:30It's really a different thing to kind of grapple with in your mind.
08:35That I think people are better with because of social media.
08:38Everybody's a little bit of their own star of their own channel.
08:41You know what I mean?
08:42But it was, it was different then.
08:45It was different then.
08:46And it was terrifying.
08:48And it took me a minute.
08:49I remember calling people and being like, how do you deal with this?
08:52What should I do?
08:53How do I get the panic feeling away?
08:56But eventually you get used to it and you learn how to navigate it.
09:00In college, Tony Kushner came to campus.
09:02And I was just like, I wanted to come up and say hi and how much I loved his work.
09:06And I don't think I got a single word out.
09:08So that was really embarrassing.
09:10But then the first time that I got recognized, I was in a restaurant and I went to the restroom
09:15and somebody was in the urinal next to me.
09:17And they were like, you're from Promised Land.
09:19I was like, yeah.
09:20And he goes, can I take a picture?
09:22And I literally was like, um, can I zip up first?
09:26Like, he goes, yeah, of course, of course.
09:27It was, it was weird, but it was, I was one of those moments where I was like, okay, uh,
09:31well, I, I'm probably going to use the stall from now on.
09:35Oh, for me, I guess like you, Stephen Sondheim, I went over to his house one day for a meeting
09:40and it was just, oh my God, to be there.
09:42And in that legendary place where he just written everything, you know, and to be offered
09:47a martini at 1130 in the morning.
09:51Come on, absolutely.
09:52He said he did.
09:52Yes, please.
09:53I did.