Ana de Armas on ‘Ballerina,' Breaking Barriers and Finding Balance in Hollywood

Yahoo

2 days ago

Ana de Armas has been in a James Bond movie, has been to the Oscars as a nominee and has premiered a film at Cannes — and yet nothing prepared her for the scope of fandom that greeted her at Comic Con in Brazil last fall.
'I had never seen that many people in my life,' the actress recalls. 'It was crazy. That's the closest you can be to being a singer.'
More from WWD
In 'Great Black Hope,' Rob Franklin Explores Class, Race and the Dark Underbelly of New York Glamour in Bold Debut Novel
A Lot to Sea: Inside the World of Superyacht Design
Weighted Matters: Make That Workout Tougher
Since its announcement, the John Wick spinoff movie 'Ballerina' has been feverishly anticipated, as its star experienced in Brazil. Officially out June 6, 'Ballerina,' which Tom Cruise has already promised 'kicks ass,' sees de Armas step into the lead of the John Wick universe in a new chapter for the Oscar nominee.
'It feels like it's a big responsibility, or at least it feels that way to me,' the 37-year-old says, over avocado toast on a recent morning in New York. The actress, dressed in a white knit Louis Vuitton dress, has been up since pre-dawn hours to tape 'Good Morning America,' but you'd never know it from her enthusiasm for talking about her new movie.
'You also feel the love. And I think people are really excited for this movie, and I think we're going to give them what they expect,' she says.
De Armas was approached by the filmmakers when the script was still in process, but she saw the potential 'right away' on the pages.
'I loved what Chad [Stahelski] and Keanu [Reeves] have done with these movies and how the fans loved these movies and how many people these movies bring into the theaters. So it was a big deal,' she says.
'Ballerina' is set between the Chapter 3 and 4 John Wick films, released in 2019 and 2023, respectively. It follows Eve Macarro, an orphaned ballerina assassin who sets out to avenge her father's death. Eve is introduced in other John Wick films but 'Ballerina' is her origin story, and the character depth appealed to de Armas in equal measure to the full-on action.
'As much action as there was on the page, I could see the heart too,' she says of reading that initial script. 'The character has such a beautiful journey. The emotionality of the character is so important in the film, I was just like, 'oh, I have to do this.''
'Ballerina' is a reunion for de Armas and Reeves, who first worked together in the 2015 movie 'Knock Knock,' which was the actress' first fully English-language film.
'The first day I met Keanu, he had just finished the first 'John Wick,' and he was telling us about it at lunch,' she recalls. 'It's crazy because I grew up watching his movies, 'Speed' and 'The Matrix' and this and that, and back then I couldn't believe I was working with him. But even now, that I'm a part of something that means so much to him and that he's put so much work into…by joining me in the movie, it was kind of like his blessing or passing the torch to me,' she continues. 'Every day on set with him, rehearsals and then on set, I just learned so much from him just by watching him. He's just nonstop. He's like me: we are perfectionists. We want to do it again and again and again, and it's never enough. So it is tough to say 'cut' when we're filming.'
De Armas was in Budapest shooting 'Ballerina' in early 2023 when she found out she was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in the movie 'Blonde.' The filming schedule meant she missed much of the lead up to the Oscars, including events and opportunities to get to know her fellow nominees, but in hindsight working was a fitting way to mark her nomination.
'I love those kinds of moments, good news days or my birthday or things like that, when I'm filming. Because it's an amazing reminder that I am actually doing what I love to do,' she says.
Getting a nomination for a serious dramatic role while at work on a blockbuster action film was especially sweet for de Armas.
'It was a reminder of 'look at the career I'm having, look at all the things I can do. This is exactly what I wanted.' It's usually that you are either only an action star and you can only do that, or you are doing indie low-budget films that not many people get to see because they're barely publicized,' de Armas says. 'So to be able to manage both sides of it and have it all in my own way, it's amazing.'
It's especially remarkable considering the actress only moved to the U.S. 10 years ago, and didn't speak much English at the time. In fact, when she first met Reeves, for 'Knock Knock,' they weren't able to have a full conversation.
'Moving to L.A. was never part of the plan,' de Armas says. 'I never thought I was going to move to the U.S. in general, even less to Hollywood or anything like that. It just kind of came my way and it happened. And I did see the opportunity and I took it, because that's what I do. But it was challenging. It made me feel very vulnerable.'
While working in Spain after immigrating from Cuba, de Armas spent all her paychecks on English and accent classes.
'I didn't have money for rent — my team, my agents, my manager, my lawyer, everyone had to loan me money to pay my rent and food. But I knew that that was a priority for me,' she says of learning English. 'I wanted to do it. I started doing auditions before I could even speak English, I would just learn this script.'
Several of her initial English-language projects, such as her 2016 films 'Hands of Stone' with Robert De Niro and 'War Dogs' with Jonah Hill and Miles Teller, were done in this way, where she would memorize the lines without understanding what they meant.
'Acting in a different language is very tricky. But to perform is not about saying the lines — the lines mean nothing. You need to understand what you are saying and how you can change the meaning of that line if you hit different words and the humor and the culture of what you're playing. And the moments where directors would change the line on the spot, as happens all the time, or an actor would improvise, and I would die. I would literally walk to a corner and cry,' de Armas says. 'I remember telling ['War Dogs' director] Todd Phillips, 'Please don't change the line. I can't say that.' And it made me feel less, less of who you know can be, like you're not complete.'
The same struggle prevented her from getting to connect with those costars in the way she dreamed of.
'I remember my first movie, 'Hands of Stone,' when I met De Niro, I was dying of frustration because I couldn't just stick to him and ask him a million questions. And the same with Keanu and the same later with Todd Phillips and everybody I worked with. But it only got better,' she says. 'And I still managed to somehow communicate with Keanu and bond with him and show him who I am to him and the kind of artist that I am. And that's how we created that friendship and how all the other jobs came after.'
Several of her next moves are still under wraps. She's completed work on the David O. Russell series 'Bananas' with Oscar Isaac, and is currently in London for a couple projects that, given her costar, have been tabloid fodder for months.
'Obviously, everyone knows I'm working with Tom Cruise. We're working on something with Doug Liman and Christopher Mcquarrie, and those guys are unbelievable at everything they do. And they're so lovely and a great team, and the process we're having is amazing,' she says. 'And of course I'm doing crazy training, as you do when you're working with Tom. It's another level that just keeps setting the bar higher and higher. But it's so much fun. And we're not only working on that thing that we're training for, but also a couple other things too,' she adds. 'We just got excited.'
Following her Oscar nomination and the completion of 'Ballerina,' after five years of back to back movies, de Armas decided to take a several month break, despite the urge to use the momentum to book the next thing.
'It was a weird time. I wanted to find what was next for me. I really wanted to see what I wanted to do and what I wanted to get involved in and who I wanted to work with. So I just took my time,' she says. 'Yes, I did have meetings and I did get some scripts, but sometimes that's also kind of hard. You make it harder on yourself because somehow you make up your mind and you have certain expectations about something that should be arriving, but it's not. Or maybe it is, but you're so fixed on something that you might be missing out on whatever you have in front of you.'
She took some time to regroup at home in Vermont, where she's lived for the past few years, answered Ron Howard's call to take part in his film 'Eden' and now is back at work with renewed focus.
'I was just still finding my thing. And I think I'm in a good place now,' she says. 'I think I know what I want to do, and I also want to be surprised. I want things to come my way. And sometimes you get in that dynamic of project after project after project, and you are doing a project while you're reading the next thing. It works better for me if I just take my time and just see what I really want to do.'
View Gallery
Launch Gallery: Ana de Armas, Fashion Moments for WWD Weekend
Best of WWD
Celebrating Lenny Kravitz, Rock Icon, Actor, Author, Designer and Style Star: Photos
Cannes Film Festival 1970s: Flashbacks, Celebrities and Fashion Highlights from WWD's 'Eye' Pages [PHOTOS]
A Look Back at Cannes Film Festival's Best Dressed Red Carpet Stars: Blake Lively, Angelina Jolie, Princess Diana and More Photos