Jennifer Lopez touts power of love in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’

Jennifer Lopez can attest to the power of a kiss. “We should all be loving each other,” the superstar says. “We need to see the humanity out there and realize that we really do need each other.”

Her message comes with a new movie musical, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” opening this weekend.

“This story. This message. I’ve wanted to make this kind of movie since I was a little girl. It’s really a dream come true for me,” the 56-year-old singer-actor-producer says. “This movie needed to be told to this generation. It tells us that basically, we’re all just people. And all of us need love — every step of the way.”

Director Bill Condon adapted the lavish picture — the second big-screen version of “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” after the 1985 film starring William Hurt, Raul Julia and Sonia Braga — from the 1976 novel by Argentine author Manuel Puig.

The story takes place in 1975 during the Argentine military dictatorship as two cellmates bond in a Buenos Aires prison. Valentin (Diego Luna), a political prisoner, shares his cell with Molina (Tonatiuh), a young gay man convicted of public indecency.

Lopez is their inspiration as the mysterious and tragic Ingrid Luna, a silver screen star, plus she plays Aurora/The Spider Woman, who can kill her lovers with a kiss.

“I got to sing, dance and play a big Hollywood movie star at this age, which proves that you can’t put an age limit on your dreams,” Lopez sighs. “If I could wish anything for anyone it is that they will follow their dreams always.”

The New York native, who lives in Los Angeles now, shared her good life advice.

Don’t quit

“I’ve always wanted to do a movie musical,” Lopez says. She auditioned for “Chicago” and “Nine” but was denied. She was even cast in NBC’s live production of “Bye Bye Birdie,” but the project never got off the ground. “When Bill sent me the script for ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman,’ I was blown away. This was big, but I’ve always said, ‘Don’t go small. And don’t quit — ever.’ … It’s a beautiful homage to how important the movies and cinema are to our lives. The movies teach us how to dream bigger than our current moment.”

Live for love

Lopez embodies several different incarnations in the film. “It was all about the nuances. I got to play all the dark and light sides,” she says. “But, at the end of the day, I would say, ‘They are all the same person because all of us have many sides to be explored. … They were searching for love. Their true love. A kiss. They were dying to be loved, seen and heard.”

Dress the part

For the movie, Lopez worked with award-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood. This included collaborating on a 50-pound gold dress — among other stunning looks. “Colleen was very specific about what she wanted,” Lopez shares. “It wasn’t like other costume designers who come with so many pieces and ask, ‘What do you think?’ She was like, ‘This is the suit.’ She had color swatches and we honed it down. … We talked about Judy Garland as an inspiration. We looked at some of her performances. We talked about Ava Gardner for glamour and Lana Turner for the hair. It was all about the classic movie stars.”

Move, move, move

Lopez uses dancing as a way to get in her cardio. “I do a lot dancing in my shows,” she says. “I hadn’t done musical theater, jazz, Broadway style of dancing for years, but I loved every minute of doing it for this movie. We shot 10 numbers in 20 days. It was a lot for everybody, but exhilarating at the same time. It was a challenge, but you gotta get it right. And when you nail it, everybody’s like,”Ahhhh!’ ”

Just say yes

Lopez says her male co-stars were a bit worried about the choreography. “Tonatiuh and Diego asked me, ‘How do we do it?’ when it came to the dancing. I said, ‘We’re just going to act it,’ she says. “The choreographers asked me questions and I said, ‘Yes, I can jump off that bar. Yes, I can dance down the stairs. Yes, I can do it all.’ … “Say yes and then jump in. You’d be surprised what you can learn. Who says you can’t learn how to play piano at 50 or 80? Just start. Remember that you are ever evolving.”

Finding inspiration

“I always say the first movie that really impacted my life was ‘West Side Story.’ There was a Puerto Rican in it!” Lopez says. She watched it over and over again at her home in the Bronx. “The truth is, we hadn’t seen that before. Plus, I loved the Romeo and Juliet story it’s based on. … It was love and music: Everything I needed as a little girl. I could actually see myself in it. I wouldn’t be doing what I do today if it wasn’t for that movie.”

Beautiful outlook

Despite a rough stretch that included her divorce from Ben Affleck (a producer on “Kiss of the Spider Woman”), Lopez isn’t changing her outlook on romance — in the movies or in real life. “Finding love and giving it is a theme here,” she says. “It’s beautiful. It’s amazing. It’s love.”