Jennifer Lopez Took Diego Luna ‘Under Her Wing’ for Kiss of the Spider Woman (Exclusive)
NEED TO KNOW
- Kiss of the Spider Woman writer-director Bill Condon spoke with PEOPLE at the movie’s New York City premiere about how Jennifer Lopez helped Diego Luna on set
- “He shared his insecurity with Jennifer and she gave him a wonderful note,” Condon says, noting that Luna “came into this as a non-dancer”
- Kiss of the Spider Woman is now in theaters
Jennifer Lopez has moves in spades — which came in handy for Diego Luna on their new film.
PEOPLE spoke with Kiss of the Spider Woman writer-director Bill Condon at the musical movie’s premiere in New York City on Monday, Oct. 6, where he said the chemistry between Lopez, 56, and Luna was “immediate,” as Luna wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable with his costar.
“Diego came into this as a non-dancer, and he’s a great actor … but he shared his insecurity with Jennifer and she gave him a wonderful note,” says Condon, 69.
In contrast, Lopez has a long history of dance, from school musicals as a child to dancing on TV specials and as a Fly Girl on In Living Color, before embarking on her pop star career.
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Of Lopez’s relationship with Luna, 45, on the set of Kiss of the Spider Woman, Condon tells PEOPLE, “You just saw her take him under her wing and then slowly, as the movie progressed, they would just spend more time together talking about stuff, and it was beautiful to watch.”
An adaptation of the 1993 Broadway musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman follows two prisoners in a repressive South American prison — a Marxist revolutionary (Luna) and a gay window dresser imprisoned for “immoral behavior” (Tonatiuh) — who escape their woes by imagining the story of a Hollywood musical starring the fictional screen star Ingrid Luna (Lopez).
