Following the news of her death, fans took to social media to share their tributes, with one writing: “Thank you for representing the Filipino community with such grace and pride when you portrayed Ned Leed’s Lola in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“You will forever be loved, cherished, and missed. Paalam po [Goodbye], Lola.”
Another person added: ““On our last conversation you left an apt quote from Ernest Lehman in the words of Captain Georg Von Trapp to Maria: ‘You left without saying goodbye’.
“Indeed, you left without saying goodbye. Yet the legacy and love you modelled for our country, our people, our culture, and our languages live on. You will always be remembered not only as once a Hollywood star or as Ned’s Lola in Spider-Man, but as a true friend, colleague, and Lola to the Hiligaynon and Pilipino literary and cultural heritage.”
She played the lovable grandmother of Peter Parker’s best friend, Ned Leeds. Photo / Netflix
Rivera took on an important role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, with Lola screaming in horror when a multiverse portal was opened up in her living room before former Spider-Man Andrew Garfield enters the room.
The movie sees Tom Holland, the current Spider-Man, Garfield and Tobey Maguire all reprise their roles as the web-slinging hero as they cross over into each other’s multiverses.
As Lola failed to hide her shock at the massive portal opening, Zendaya’s character, MJ, asks Garfield to “prove” he’s Spider-Man, to which he shoots cobwebs up to the ceiling.
Lola then starts speaking Austronesian language Talagog, as she tells Garfield’s Spider-Man to clean up the cobwebs before he heads off, with Ned, played by Jacob Batalon, translating.