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Star of “Ballerina”, action film derived from “John Wick”, Ana de Armas returns with us to her intense training for the muscular sequences of the feature film.
Who could have envisaged Ana de Armas as an action star when she illustrated herself in Knock Knock, Blade Runner 2049 or even pulled knives? Until the exit from dying can wait, no one. Since then, many people, because the Cuban actress made a very strong impression in the last James Bond of Daniel Craig, with a very secondary role but nevertheless striking.
“Dying can wait has changed my life in many ways”tells us the actress who has since played in Ghosted and The Gray Man, and is today the star of Ballerina, located in the universe of John Wick. “Paloma was a magnificent character. I really liked this film, and even if my screen time was very short, I have the impression that it allowed me to make myself known as an action actress. Between the simplicity and the personality of the character, and the scenes imagined for me, it was cool. She was perfect and really opened doors, for me as for the industry, who gave me my chance and trust me as an important role.
A film, located between John Wick episodes 3 and 4, for which she began to be mentioned at the end of October 2021, a few weeks after the exit from dying can wait, which cannot be a coincidence. However, it will have had to wait a little longer, not far from four years, to discover the result, in which Ana de Armas embodies an orphan, Eve Macarro, in search of a revenge that she will be able to accomplish thanks to a training, which mixes dance and combat techniques, within the Ruska Roma, one of the criminal branches which constitutes the large table in the universe of the saga of action.
Secondary in dying can wait and The Gray Man, the actress is in the foreground in the film by Len Wiseman, which multiplies the bravery pieces and gave her a hard time. Throughout production: “I followed a very long preparation”she explains to us. “Months and months of training and work with my coach. In the gym and then in a shooting stand, to learn to shoot, go from one weapon to another, dismantle them and go up. I had pain in the hands, they were covered with blisters and blues.”
“And I especially spent hours and hours with the waterfall team, in their premises, to develop the fights, but in a way that corresponded to the style of Eve, a woman in a world of men. We wanted to find the right balance between strength and power, and discover how she managed things, as she does in the film, using her environment and showing herself very malignant in the fights, with real objects, Vulnerability and the fact that it is a woman of her size.
“It just took a long time. And even after starting the shooting, we continued to repeat other fights, because we had not had enough time during the rehearsals to cover all the fights in the film. It never ended.” A preparation for the (very) long lesson during which she was able to count on her partner Keanu Reeves, with whom she turned for the third time in her career.
“Even after starting the shooting, we continued to repeat other fights”
“Keanu never stops. He's like me, we are very similar. We just want to continue again and again, and have a similar professional ethics and the same desire to want to give the best of ourselves each time. He is so generous, in addition to being gifted: he knows exactly what he does in these films, and he could easily present himself on set on filming day [sans préparation] And be perfect. But he comes to rehearsals because he wants to continue and try new things. He knows how to step back and lets you find your rhythm and your time, then he joins you. He is very generous on this plan. “
A generosity which she notably took advantage of during the filming of the combat scene against each other, teased in the trailer, and which has constituted the summit of Ballerina, in theaters since June 4.
Interview by Maximilien Pierrette in Paris on May 28, 2025
