A prison, times of repression, and a romance between a Marxist political activist and a gay hairdresser. Forty years after its debut, ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ bursts back onto the big screen with a powerful message at a key moment for “the Latino and queer community, which are under such attack,” says Jennifer Lopez.
The American actress revives, along with Mexican Diego Luna and Tonatiuh, one of the most challenging works of Latin American literature. Written by Manuel Puig (1932-1990), it was banned in the 1970s for daring to explore politics and homosexuality during Argentina’s military dictatorship.
JLo promotes her new movie
kiss of the spider woman is absolutely fantastic!!! so unapologetically queer and anti fascist and romantic. the performances were emotional and tonatiuh absolutely shines!!! i truly cannot recommend it enough pic.twitter.com/PyA6ncv82c
– ⊹˚. ren (@andorlorians) October 11, 2025
In this new version directed by Bill Condon, JLo plays three characters “with different sounds and appearances, each with her own personal touch, but with a universality that I think is the essence of the film: love, being seen and accepted,” she said in an interview with EFE.
While for Ingrid Luna’s character she was inspired by how the queer community glorifies personalities like Judy Garland or Barbra Streisand, Aurora is described as “a fragile, single woman who doesn’t understand why she doesn’t find love, she feels cursed and there is a fragility in her”.
From between the two personalities emerges Spider Woman, “a fierce creature, with a supernatural presence, with a different power and darker than light,” he says.
“They all want the same thing, they’re just looking to be loved and seen. And for me, that’s what the film is about,” she adds.
The musical, which portrays the relationship forged between two men in prison during Argentina’s military dictatorship, conveys, from the actress’ perspective, a powerful message in a current context marked by persistent hostility towards the LGTBIQ+ community.
“You can be any kind of person, but if you look at their soul and their humanity, two people could fall in love if you leave behind all political, religious, sexual preference, race, gender differences,” he asserts.
Tonatiuh’s stellar debut
‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ marks the leading role debut of American Tonatiuh Elizarraraz as Luis Molina, a gay hairdresser with a big imagination who shares a cell with Valentin Arregui (Diego Luna), a Marxist political activist.
The son of an immigrant mother from Mexico who struggled hard to raise her family, his name means “The Aztec Sun” and comes from indigenous mythology, roots of which he is proud.
“I went to public school. I was born prematurely, and the only reason we weren’t massively in debt was because of socialized programs like Medicare and Medicaid. I clung to academia as a way to survive, but art was what made my heart soar,” he explains to EFE.
With Molina, a role that earned William Hurt a Best Actor Oscar in the 1985 version, Tonatiuh shares the responsibility of his role: “Being able to represent not only the LGBTQIA community but also the Latino community is the greatest gift of my life,” he says excitedly.
The actor recalls one of the scenes in the film where JLo, played by Aurora, “sings to Molina saying: ‘Why do you have to be where you are? Come with me to become a movie star. Less than a year later here we are, doing just that,” she concludes.
Diego Luna’s great challenge
Buzzy
For Mexican actor Diego Luna, shooting a musical film was “a beautiful challenge” for what he considers “a tribute to a cinema that is no longer made”, such as the musicals of the 1940s and 1950s.
The process was very exciting. And not only was I accompanied by the work of the choreographers, but working with Jennifer (Lopez) was something spectacular because she is a spectacular dancer and singer, and she helped me a lot in the whole process,” he told EFE.
Unlike actors, “dancers work with a mirror in front of them” and it took some time to get used to it.
Of all the lessons she learned throughout the process, there was one from her co-star that stuck with her: Jennifer Lopez “told me, when you dance you can see what you’re thinking and what you’re feeling, there’s no way to hide it. So you have to enjoy it,” she confesses.
From then on, “I started to have a good time, but I was very anxious during the process,” says Luna.
Filed under: New JLo movie
With information from EFE
