Bill Condon was photographed Sept. 11 at PMC Studios in Los Angeles. Photographed by Mark Griffin Champion; Groomer: April Bautista at Dew Beauty Agency Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment As a master of the movie musical, Bill Condon knows a certain truth about theatergoers. "Secretly, people love it. They love musicals, but they have to be permitted," says Condon, who has brought to screen such titles as Dreamgirls and Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast. The writer and director has become one of the go-tos of the musical movie genre, having also written the screenplay for the acclaimed musical Chicago. But his work spans categories, with dramas including Kinsey, starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, and the Ian McKellen starrer Gods and Monsters, which won Condon an Oscar for his adapted screenplay. He's also delved into horror with his early work and in directing the final two Twilight films, to which he brought a winking note of camp. Related Stories Movies SCAD Savannah Film Fest: Jennifer Lopez Will Receive Virtuoso Award, Guest on Live Episode of THR's 'Awards Chatter' Pod Movies Nashville Film Festival Books 'Kiss of the Spider Woman,' Colin Hanks' Doc 'John Candy: I Like Me' Next up, Condon tackles Kiss of the Spider Woman, a musical set in an Argentinian prison, where two cellmates distract themselves by recounting the plot of a Hollywood musical. The film stars Jennifer Lopez (the "ideal" diva for the titular role, Condon says), alongside Diego Luna as Valentin, a political prisoner sharing a cell with Molina, a queer window dresser played by newcomer Tonatiuh. As with much of his work, this was a passion project for Condon, who had been drawn to the 1976 novel and 1985 film for their trailblazing depictions of queer characters, as well as the Tony Award-winning Kander and Ebb musical. His deep connection to this project was evident on set, according to Luna, and even before filming began, as Condon made sure Luna's dancing skills were up to par before pairing him with Lopez. "It was really nice through the process to find out that in his work, everything has multiple meanings," Luna notes. "He's also very generous. He has time to explain and to invite you to that complexity and that kind of multiple-layered story that he's telling. Few people are so passionate about what they do." Jennifer Hudson, who made her Oscar-winning film debut in Dreamgirls, says Condon has been her favorite director to work with because he encouraged her to trust her instincts when it came to embodying her character, while also providing deft guidance on how and when to dial up and down her emotions. "He is like the movie musical king, hands down. If you want your musical to be right, call Bill Condon," Hudson says. What made you want to take on Kiss of the Spider Woman? I don't think there are that many Broadway shows that should be films. It's a really, really high bar. I did think Dreamgirls was one of them. And I thought Kiss of the Spider Woman was another, simply because, like Cabaret and Chicago [also by Kander and Ebb], the lead character is someone who has a very difficult day-to-day experience and separates himself from that through a very rich fantasy life connected to show business. I always felt like it was the unmade third leg of that triptych. The other big thing was, it has taken 50 years for the world to catch up to the novel. The lead character, Molina, says explicitly, "I'm not a homosexual. I have no attraction to homosexual men. I'm a woman, and I like a strong man." So it's not trans, but it's proto-trans. Each of those previous iterations were groundbreaking in their own way, but they had to pull their punches when it came to real issues of gender fluidity and also, frankly, the kiss. So it just felt as if there were huge unexplored aspects of that novel that were worth attacking again. Jennifer Lopez stars in Condon's latest musical for the screen, Kiss of the Spider Woman. He calls her the "ideal" diva for the titular role. Roadside Attractions/Courtesy Everett Collection Did you think about the impact of featuring a proto-trans character in your film now given the political climate? It was interesting because I wrote it the year before the election, and we shot it in the spring of the election year. So it was very clear already from everything that happened that part of the playbook was going to be demonizing trans people. I think the right has always looked for those cultural issues that get people distracted and worked up. And I guess we moved on from the gays as villains, but I think it was clear that that was going to happen. How has the early reception to the film been? There are many so far who connect to it. At the same time, we got pretty dismissive coverage in a few Rupert Murdoch papers. We had basicall