Ana de Armas dances back into Keanu Reeves’ world with Ballerina

Long before Ana de Armas was slicing throats with ice skates in Ballerina, she shared the screen with Keanu Reeves in a very different film, the 2015 erotic thriller Knock Knock. That movie marked her Hollywood debut. Fresh from Cuba and having worked in Spain, Ana was new to Los Angeles and didn’t even speak English fluently. “I had to learn all my lines phonetically,” she recalls. “It was lonely and tough, but I was determined.” Recalling early meetings, she says producers told her to come back in a year once she learned English. “I would smile and tell them, ‘I’ll see you in two months."

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From that humble start, Ana’s career has skyrocketed. She stood out even as a hologram in Blade Runner 2049, turned heads in Knives Out, and brought elegance to No Time to Die. She received an Oscar nod for portraying Marilyn Monroe in Blonde. Now, a decade after Knock Knock, she’s leading Ballerina, an action-packed spinoff of the John Wick universe and her first major summer blockbuster.

“It’s a full-circle moment,” says Ana. “To be with Keanu again, but in such a different place in my career, it’s surreal.” While she’s no stranger to stardom, Ballerina is her first big-screen action lead after several streaming projects like The Gray Man and Ghosted. Director Len Wiseman praises her drive, noting, “She’s ready to carry the weight of this film and she’s not afraid of pressure.”

Despite her global fame, Ana spends part of her time in Vermont. “It surprises people,” she laughs. “But it gives me peace.” From a girl in Cuba with asthma to headlining an action film with flamethrower duels, her journey is nothing short of remarkable. “I never imagined doing action,” she admits. “But here I am.”

Now a U.S. citizen, Ana reflects on how fortunate she was to arrive when immigration paths were less restricted. “I got here at the right time,” she says, “and I know that’s a privilege.”