Jennifer Lopez is an icon. She is known for being a multitalented actress and musician, starring in numerous films over the years as well as maintaining a thriving music career. Now, she’s taking on potentially her biggest challenge yet, playing Ingrid Luna in the remake of The Kiss of the Spider Woman. Lopez has already received a rave reception for her performance, and now the film’s director is explaining why the pop “diva” was perfect for the role.
While diva has been a pejorative term in the past, with it often being synonymous with a “difficult woman,” it has been reframed in recent years. According to Beyoncé, “a diva is the female version of a hustler,” which is exactly the context that writer-director Bill Condon spoke in when he talked about JLo. The filmmaker explained that in a world where the “contemporary diva” is becoming less popular, JLo is thriving, which made her perfect for the role in the 2025 movie release, The Kiss of a Spider Woman. He told EW:
The fact that she is a contemporary diva in a world that doesn’t have many, that’s what this version needed. And someone who could inhabit the world of ’40s and ’50s Hollywood musicals in a way that you really believe. There aren’t too many people who could do that.
Lopez makes perfect sense for the role.. The movie follows two men sharing a prison cell, while one of them recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring a beloved actress, played by Lopez. Her character is a daring, multi-hyphenate, which JLo is as well, considering her various musical achievements and acclaimed acting performances. She is uncompromising and the representation of an ideal, something that Lopez has a reputation of.
Condon also added that Lopez was more than just right for the part based on her persona. He went out of his way to compliment the megastar on her work ethic and drive, contradicting some of the negative reporting around Lopez in recent years. He said:
She’s the opposite of everything that everyone ever writes about her. It’s just pure work ethic.
However people may respond to Lopez and her work style, her drive and determination have never been in question. Her behind-the-scenes documentary focused on her SuperBowl halftime performance, Halftime, shows the amount of dedication that went into her show and how hard she worked to be in the best physical shape possible to give the best performance possible. The documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told shows a similar ethic, as she works to represent herself creatively in a new way.
For Lopez, there has seemingly never been a creative ceiling. She has always strived to reinvent herself in a new way or use her skills to take on a new challenge. The Kiss of the Spider Woman is an example of that, as Lopez transforms herself physically and uses all of her tools to apparently give yet another showstopping performance in a remake of a film that’s already beloved. It’s big shoes to fill, but for a “diva” like JLo, she will go above and beyond filling them.
You can see Jennifer Lopez in The Kiss of a Spider Woman, when it hits theaters on October 10th, 2025. Fans can also see the actress in her latest film, Unstoppable, which is now streaming with an Amazon Prime subscription.
