When Bill Condon made Dreamgirls in 2006, he cast an unknown Jennifer Hudson opposite well-known costars Eddie Murphy, Jaime Foxx, and Beyoncé. She emerged from the experience a star and an Oscar winner. Now, in the writer-director’s latest musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman, history may well repeat as young actor Tonatiuh goes toe-to-toe with Diego Luna and Jennifer Lopez and emerges a star.

“It was a wonderful gift that Ben Affleck gave me, who runs a company that financed the movie, and having had Diego and Jennifer agree, and say, ‘Just go find the best person,’’’ says Condon during a visit to the Bay Area where the Mill Valley Film Festival was screening the film and feting Tonatiuh with a special spotlight.

“Thank God, because if in addition to everything else, they had to have a st

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