Before she was a pop hitmaker and Golden Globe-nominated actress, Lopez was a young dancer hoofing it in the big city and selling souvenir programs outside the Majestic Theatre. Growing up, Barbra Streisand and Chita Rivera were her north stars, while a high-school production of "Godspell" awakened her to the thrill of musical theater.

"Broadway was always the dream. When I first started, I thought that that's where I would end up," the Bronx native tells USA TODAY on a recent afternoon. But in the early 1990s, a stint on "In Living Color" gave way to her breakout role in "Selena," and pretty soon, "my life just took a different trajectory."

But all roads eventually led back to her first movie musical, "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (in theaters Oct. 10), about a gay Argentinian prisoner named Molina (Tonatiuh) who escapes into silver-screen fantasies. Lopez, 56, inhabits three distinct characters in Molina's mind: the film siren Ingrid Luna, the vampy Aurora and venomous Spider Woman.

"She connected on a really deep level to what was happening in the script and all the various layers," says writer and director Bill Condon, who was amazed by the "vulnerability" and "grit" Lopez brought to the project.

Lopez filmed "Spider Woman" last year in the months leading up to her split from husband Ben Affleck, who is also a producer on the movie. She tells us about channeling her emotions, returning to herself and what she learned from her shocking Oscar snub for 2019's "Hustlers."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

In playing these characters, were there parts of yourself that you never got the opportunity to show before?

Jennifer Lopez: I always dreamed of being this Hollywood star when I was a little girl, ever since I saw “West Side Story.” In doing this, I finally got to be the movie musical star that I grew up watching. I don't think people have ever seen me sing or dance in this style, even though that's how I started when I was young.

Was there ever a point in your career where you felt boxed in or underestimated?

I have had a very blessed career from the beginning. I've had to work hard, but I feel like what's mine is mine. Have I ever looked and said, “Oh, God, I wish I could have done this movie or that movie?” Yes, of course. Every actor thinks that at times. But the truth is, I love my trajectory. I love the way my life has gone and the things that have come to me, because they came to me when I was really ready for them and not a minute before that

I'm grateful because every single project I do has something to help me elevate to another level of who I am, not just as an artist but as a human. The projects that I need at different times in my life are the ones that manifest in that moment. There does seem to be a very strong coincidence that the things I'm going through and working through show up in the artistic projects in my life.

You've said that the period of making this film was both the happiest and toughest time of your life. Were you able to channel those emotions into your performance? What kind of catharsis did it give you?

One hundred percent. You cannot separate who you are from what your performances become in that moment. It’s really about being in the present, and when I was filming “Kiss of the Spider Woman" – Aurora, that woman who was feeling like she was cursed in love; the Spider Woman, who just wanted a kiss; and Ingrid Luna, who was this powerhouse of an entertainer – all of them were living very largely in my life. I was very lucky, because it does come out in the performance. I don't know that I would be able to play the characters in the same way today that I played them during that time.

I've rarely heard an actor talk as candidly about awards season as you do in your "Halftime" documentary. What's the most important lesson you took from that experience with "Hustlers?"

I did learn a lot from it, because you start putting an importance on something that's not important, in a way. Even though it's nice and fun, it's not what it's about. For me, ("Spider Woman") has such a bigger mission right now. I don't think it's a coincidence that (this story) has a new iteration in this time where Latinos and the queer community are being so targeted and demonized and marginalized. This message needed to surface again, to remind people to look at the humanity of one another.

With the renewed confidence and joy you took from this film, what excites you most about this next chapter?

I had a love of musicals from the very beginning and now that's been reignited in me. You're going to see that incorporated a lot into my career in the coming era, whether it's in my Las Vegas residency or the movies that I choose. It’s a return to who I was and the essence of who I am, but also a brand new me, which is exciting. It's an exciting time! We keep changing and growing – and returning to ourselves, which is even better.