Jennifer Lopez tears up at 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' Sundance premiere: 'It's a big deal'

USA Today

27-01-2025

Five years after she was infamously snubbed for "Hustlers," could Jennifer Lopez be heading toward her first Oscar nomination?
The "Jenny From the Block" singer, 55, teared up at Sundance Film Festival on Sunday as her new movie musical "Kiss of the Spider Woman" received a standing ovation, according to videos shared by Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
Lopez explained to the crowd that she has always wanted to star in a musical film.
"I've been waiting for this moment my whole life," she said. "When you talk about the importance of musicals, the reason that I even wanted to be in this business was because my mom would sit me in front of the TV, it would come on once a year: 'West Side Story' on Thanksgiving."
The "Marry Me" star got emotional as she continued, "I was just mesmerized, and I was like, 'That's what I want to do.' That was always my goal, and this is the first time I actually got to do it. So it's a big deal."
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Lopez also thanked the film's director, Bill Condon, saying he "made my dream come true."
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Lopez plays film star Ingrid Luna in "Kiss of the Spider Woman," an adaptation of the stage musical about prisoners in Argentina. The musical was in turn based on the 1976 novel. William Hurt won the Oscar for best actor for his performance in a 1985 film adaptation, which was also nominated for best picture.
Early reviews out of Sundance have heaped praise on Lopez, with The Hollywood Reporter saying it's "one of the best roles of her career" and Deadline writing that it's the role she was born to play.
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When Variety asked Lopez about the Oscar buzz, she said she doesn't "even want to begin the conversation" but that "of course, I would love it to get the recognition that I believe that it deserves."
In 2019, Lopez received a significant amount of Oscar buzz for her role in "Hustlers," which earned her nominations at the Golden Globes, Independent Spirit Awards, and Critics' Choice Awards. But she was ultimately not nominated at the Oscars, which critics considered one of that year's most shocking snubs.
In an interview with Allure in 2021, Lopez said "it was a sting" not to earn the Oscar nod.
"I was like, 'Okay, when you're supposedly in everybody else's mind supposed to be nominated and you're not, what does that mean? Is it really real?'" she said. "'Are the other ones real and this one isn't?' It came to a point where I was like, 'This is not why I do this. I don't do this to have 10 Oscars sitting on my mantel or 20 Grammys.'"
Lopez also opened up about the Oscar snub in her 2022 documentary "Halftime."
"The truth is, I really started to think I was going to get nominated," she said in the film. "I got my hopes up, because so many people were telling me I would be, and then it didn't happen."