Jennifer Lopez recalls losing ‘Evita’ role to Madonna

Imagine if instead of Madonna it had been Jennifer Lopez starring as Eva Perón in the 1996 movie Evita. According to JLo, it could have happened.

Variety reports that during a post-screening Q&A for her new movie musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jennifer recalled her previously failed attempts to land roles in movie musicals. One of those was Evita, which was directed by Alan Parker.

Jennifer recalled, “I went to audition for Evita for Alan Parker. I had been practicing for weeks and I sing my heart out and he goes, ‘You’re amazing. You know Madonna has the part, right?’”

She added, “I said, ‘OK, bye-bye. Nice to meet you.’”

Madonna went on to win a Golden Globe for best actress in a film, musical or comedy for her role as the former first lady of Argentina. One of the numbers she sang in the movie, “You Must Love Me,” won the Oscar for best original song.

Jennifer said she also auditioned for the movie musicals Chicago and Nine, but didn’t get the parts. She was supposed to star in a live version of Bye Bye Birdie on NBC in 2016, but the project never happened. Now, with Kiss of the Spider Woman, based on the 1992 Broadway musical of the same name, Jennifer said, “I’m living my childhood dreams.”

Kiss of the Spider Woman is in theaters Oct. 10.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.