00:00I had not seen any of the Kiss of the Spider-Woman, okay? I didn't see the 80s version of it.
00:04I did not, I had not read the book. I didn't know the 80s version of it. My 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? And she was like, over the moon. I was like, yes.
00:22For me, it's like so important. I think it's probably just an overcompensation thing of like,
00:27I have to come in and be perfect right off the bat. Like I like to know, I don't like to make
00:32mistakes. So I'm just like over prepared when I come in, which I think some actors like kind of
00:40find it as they're going. And that's a different process. And it's cool. Like I'm fine with that.
00:46Just for me, I'm a rehearser. I like to practice all the time. And so by the time I get there,
00:53I'm like, yeah, what are you doing? What are you doing? I'm ready. I'm ready. It just gives me
00:57more confidence. I remember you saying that. It's like, it only works for you if you've got
01:01it in your bones. Yeah. Right. And there was a terror that maybe we didn't have literally enough
01:06time to get it into the bones. It was terror. You found the time somehow. Do any of you have
01:11anything you have to do before the first day of a shoot of a production on set? I normally light
01:16Palo Santo right before just to like whatever negative energy or anything that's on me, I just
01:21get it off, leave it at home, don't bring it to set. And just a nice little green juice.
01:25It's just because 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. So I'm like, at least I'm getting some idea
01:32of a vegetable.
01:34For me, every movie is different. I don't have any like set ritual. I just come in. I'm like,
01:40I said, super prepared and just kind of ready to go. I always like tell the first AD, I was
01:47like, I will be a little late to set, but we will make it up as we go along. I promise
01:51you. Cause once I get there, I'm not leaving the set. I'm not taking a break. I don't need
01:56lunch. I don't need anything. We, whatever, however you want to shoot forever long you
02:00want to shoot, I will be there. And so, yeah, that's my only thing on the first day. I always
02:05let them know, like, don't panic when I'm not out there right at the minute. But when
02:09I get there, it'll be great.
02:10But you're pretty close on this movie. It was crazy.
02:12We didn't have a lot of time.
02:13We didn't. Yeah. I have to say, I had, I had a sense just hearing over the years that
02:19Jennifer had a great interest in doing something like this. So that was, you know, you always
02:23have to convince yourself when you're sitting down alone, no deal. You're just doing it
02:27on your own, that there's a way to make the movie. And I think I was holding onto that
02:31idea that I think Jennifer wants to do something.
02:34Yeah. Yes. And he was right.
02:36Yeah. Yeah.
02:37He was right. And my agent just sent me the script, Kevin Huvane. And he was like, I have
02:40something that I think you're going to like. And I was like, all right, send it to me.
02:44You know, it's like, you know, sometimes it's yes. And sometimes it's no, most times it's
02:49no. And I get it. And I, and I was like, I called him back and I like, like maybe 30
02:55pages. And I go, is this mine? Or is this something that I'm going to have to like meet
03:02with or audition for? And he was like, no, they want you to, you know, Bill wants you to
03:06do it. And I was like, Bill Condon, Bill Condon wants me to do it. Okay. Okay.
03:09And I was ecstatic. I have been waiting. There was never a feeling in my life. I think maybe
03:18the closest thing, and I was too young to understand it was Selena. But beyond that, there was never
03:26a time where I felt like I sat down and read something and thought I was born to play this.
03:30You know, I like, this was meant for me. I have been waiting for this my whole life. And
03:36because I did, I grew up on movie musicals. My mother was a huge fan of Barbra Streisand
03:42and of Rita Moreno. And, and, and, and I just, it was in my bones. It's what I thought I was
03:49going to do with my life. I thought I was going to do Broadway. And I'm in my, you know, life
03:54took other turns and thank God it's been amazing. But to do this at this time is just like a dream
03:59come true.
04:01Did the scheduling, how did the scheduling work out? Because how far in advance is your life
04:05kind of booked out?
04:06It was tough. And Bill wanted to shoot it at a specific time. And I was like, the panic
04:13was, you know, will we have enough time to do it? And, and he was very confident. Thank
04:20God I was, you know, panicked, but we did it. And we, I cleared out, you know, some things
04:26and pushed a couple of things back just to be able to do it. You know, when you do these
04:30indie films, it's, it's all, you know, cart. It's, it's not about money. It's not about
04:36anything else, except like, I love this part. I love this script. I want to work with this
04:40director and I'm going to do it no matter what. And so we just buckled down and did
04:45it.
04:45The thing I remember you was like, I'm going to go home on the weekends. And it's
04:48like, that never happened.
04:50No, you, I tried to go home one weekend. And he was like, you can't go. I need you to rehearse
04:54this weekend. I was like, okay.
04:56But that was, it was amazing though. Like the dedication.
05:00No, we did. We were there.
05:01It's like summer camp. You know, winter, winter camp because it was all major.
05:04Do any of you remember the very first musical you saw?
05:08Uh, Singing in the Rain.
05:10Yeah. I mean, mine had to be West Side Story. It was the first one my mom showed me.
05:14Yeah. On stage, Mandel Matcha when I was 10 years old.
05:17Oh, wow.
05:18Did you see the Broadway version?
05:20No.
05:21Of Kiss of the Spider Woman?
05:22No, I hadn't, I had not seen any of the Kiss of the Spider Woman. Okay. I didn't see the
05:2680s version of it. I did not. I had not read the book. I didn't know the 80s version of
05:31it. My, my sister knew it. She came to my house and saw the script and she's like, are
05:35you fucking doing Kiss of the Spider Woman? And she was like over the moon. I was like,
05:39yes, I haven't told anybody yet, but I didn't know anything. So my first introduction to it
05:47was reading this kind of beautiful script of this story of these two men and this, you know,
05:51the way he described this beautiful Hollywood diva, you know, it was just like, oh, and she's
05:58saying, she says, how many musical numbers? Oh my God. Like it was just, it was my first
06:05introduction to it. And I just loved it. I loved what it said. I love that it was about love and
06:10seeing people for who they are and, and accepting them, um, without all the labels, without all the
06:16things just like, you mean something to me. I love you. I love your spirit. I love your soul.
06:22Um, and that bringing people together and heal, you know, kind of like, you know, healing any divide.
06:28That idea to me is such a big, beautiful idea that the world is so desperate for right now. Um,
06:36and to see it in this way with this, these big musical numbers in between is, is going to be,
06:41I think something really important. I think if people get to see it, I'm very excited about that.
06:47When was the first time you were starstruck or when was the first time you were recognized?
06:51For me, I was starstruck. I met Barbra Streisand. Obviously my mom was a huge Barbra Streisand fan.
06:57Funny Girl is probably my favorite musical. One of my favorite musicals, if not my favorite besides
07:02West Side Story of all time. Um, and I was very starstruck. She was just, you know, saying,
07:09how do you deal with being so famous? Cause I had had like my JLo album and all those things come out.
07:14And I was on, in the tabloids all the time. And she was, I was like, you're Barbra Streisand.
07:20What are you doing? Like, I couldn't even, I, it was like, I can't compute this, you know? Um,
07:24and the first time I got recognized, I mean, it started, it caused me tremendous anxiety because I
07:30was like walking down the street. It was right after I did the movie Selena and I had done television
07:35before that. And I had done other movies, but for some reason, Selena was the one that when I walk,
07:41I was just walking out of my apartment, going to like the store to buy ham or something like that.
07:48And on the way back, somebody was like, Jennifer, Jennifer. And I was like,
07:54and I'm like, I don't recognize the person. And they run up to me and I was like,
07:59oh my God. Who the fuck are you? Oh my God. It's terrifying. That's crazy.
08:05Like, like really scared. Like, and I'm like a young girl by myself, not young, youngish,
08:10you know what I mean? But I'm a young woman by myself. And I was like, and she was,
08:14and tried to touch you, hug you, you know, you're like, Whoa. And that was like, I,
08:21it was when it hit me. I was like, Oh, you're not anonymous person.
08:25Yeah. You're moving through the world in a different way now. And I crawled,
08:28I started having panic attacks. It was really a different thing to kind of grapple with in your
08:34mind that I think people are better with because of social media. Everybody's a little bit of their
08:39own star of their own channel. You know what I mean? But it's, it was, it was different then.
08:45It was different then. And it was terrifying. And it took me a minute to, I remember calling people
08:51and being like, how do you deal with this? How, what should I do? How do I get the panic feeling?
08:55You know, but eventually you get used to it and you learn how to learn how to navigate it.
09:00In college, uh, Tony Kushner came to campus and I was just like, uh, I wanted to come up and say
09:05hi and how much I loved his work. And I don't think I got a single word out. So that was really
09:09embarrassing. But then the first time that I got recognized, um, I was in a restaurant and I went
09:14to the restroom and somebody was in the Ural next to me and they were like, you're from promised land.
09:18And I was like, yeah. And he goes, can I take a picture? And I literally was like, um, can I,
09:24can I zip up first? Like, cause it's, he goes, yeah, of course, of course. It was, it was weird,
09:29but it was, I was one of those moments where I was like, okay, uh, well, I, I probably going to use
09:33the stall from now on. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, for me, I guess like you, Stephen Sondheim, I went over to his
09:38house one day for a meeting and it was just, oh my God, to be there and in that legendary place where
09:44he'd just written everything, you know, and to be offered a martini at 11 30 in the morning of,
09:50come on, absolutely. Please said he did. Yes, please. I did. Yeah.
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