Jennifer Lopez speaks movingly about her young queer fans: ‘They save you and you save them’
"They don't even understand that sometimes, how they get you through things that are so difficult," Lopez gushed
By Gary Grimes
Jennifer Lopez has given a touching new interview in which she speaks about the special relationship she has shared with her young queer fanbase over the years.
The singer and actress is currently promoting her upcoming film Kiss of the Spider Woman which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival over the weekend.
The film is an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name, with Lopez playing the titular Spider Woman character who an actress and the subject of fantasies imagined by the main character, a gay teenage hairdresser who finds himself imprisoned in Argentina.
Speaking to Variety, the Maid In Manhattan star was asked whether it strikes her how, in her real life, she has young queer fans who dress up as her. “It’s not weird at all,” she responds instantly. “It’s one of the things I understood about the role that maybe other actors couldn’t, is understanding what you mean to your fans when you sing music and you do movies.
“You mean something to them and you have a relationship with them where they save you and you save them. But they’re also doing it for you and they don’t even understand that sometimes, how they get you through things that are so difficult.”
Lopez’s co-star Tonatiuh also spoke in the interview about the impact Lopez had on him growing up as a queer person.
“You have been such a part of my lived experience,” he told the ‘Get Right’ singer. “My mom called the police because I snuck out of the house to go to a Jennifer Lopez night in West Hollywood at [age] 14,” he revealed, much to the singer’s amusement. “I could not miss it,” he laughed.
“You have such a place in our hearts as a community,” Tonatiuh went on. “I don’t think I could have expressed what it felt like to hear you tell me after strikes, after Covid, come and join me and be here with me.”
"Kiss of the Spider Woman" star Tonatiuh to Jennifer Lopez: "You have been such a part of my lived experience. My mom called the police because I snuck out of the house to go to a Jennifer Lopez night in West Hollywood at [age] 14." | Variety Studio presented by @audible_com pic.twitter.com/IQkQzpSAF4
— Variety (@Variety) January 26, 2025
The actor’s role of a queer teen obsessed with a pop culture icon played by Lopez was, understandably, not a huge stretch for the burgeoning star. “It wasn’t even acting, I think I just had to be present and witness the magnitude and the impact you have had on me,” he admitted to her. “I am so grateful to have just spent time with you and to be on this project with you,” he concluded.
“It was amazing,” Lopez replies, clearly moved by the actor’s words.
Kiss of the Spider Woman has yet to find a distributor for its global release though it will undoubtedly have much interest after it reportedly received a standing ovation at the festival.