Ana de Armas Reveals Ballerina Stunt That Made Her Start Crying | Interview
ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim recently sat down with actress Ana de Armas (Knives Out, Blonde, Blade Runner 2049) for her new role as assassin Eve Macarro in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. She discussed performing her own stunts in the upcoming action film and navigating her way in Hollywood.
“Taking place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4, Eve Macarro, a ballerina-assassin, begins to train in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma and sets out to exact revenge for her father’s death,” reads the synopsis for the John Wick spin-off movie.
Ballerina starring Ana de Armas arrives in theaters on June 6, 2025.
Jonathan Sim: You do so much of the stunts in this movie. They’re genuinely incredible. I know you’ve talked about how you do all this training that you want to be the one who’s on camera doing these stunts. What percentage of the stunts would you say that you did in this movie?
Ana De Armas: I mean, I think except for the really, really dangerous falls or hits or throws on the walls or a few things with the fire, I did everything else. I wanted to be a part of it. It’s the experience I wanna have. That’s why I said yes to the movie. That’s also my contribution. It’s not just my face and a few dialogue scenes. It was so empowering to go through the training. I could feel myself getting more competent and better at it. And then you just wanna have that on camera. I wanted the audience to see it was me [in] the fight scenes. We tried to choreograph things that were like long takes so people could see, like, it was actually me from beginning to end. Like, we didn’t want anything choppy and weird cuts or here and there it was like, “Let’s just power through.” And it was so difficult.
I could tell. You definitely did a lot. And I could see your face in all of the stunts and everything. And I love that. Something I love about this movie is the fact that it turns the phrase, “fFght like a girl” into something to aspire to. I was thinking about your incredible career, and in your past, what is a time when you needed to fight for yourself, when fighting like a girl meant fighting for your value or your worth in this industry?
My whole life? It’s always been a part of my character, my values, just the way I just see life as a woman and as a woman in the business, as an actress, as an artist. Like the things I wanna create and the things I wanna do. And there’s always, there’s always that kind of fight that you have with the world, with your people around you that you just have to, you know, put your foot down and keep your grounds and just not move from there. Just whatever happens, you know? And so it’s, it’s always been a constant thing and the target moves and you just move with it and then just keep going.
I read in the press notes that you had to get over your fear of fire for this, because Eve Macarro, she has a flamethrower in this movie, and she’s not afraid to use it.
Ana de Armas: She’s not, yeah. For me, it was different. I saw the flamethrower, they asked me to rehearse with it the day before we started shooting, and I had to burn the stuntman, and it was too much for me. I started crying. It was not a good thing to see. But, you know, it was, I got it out of my system. I got comfortable with it. I knew everyone was safe. And then I had a lot of fun with it.
Were there any other fears that you were able to overcome in your career that made you more fearless as an actor?
I always tried to reinvent myself and try new things and approach different characters. That’s what I think is fun about being an artist. Definitely when I moved to the US from Spain, learning English when I didn’t know it, and then working on the accent and then working with incredible actors, being on set with people, like in the cast of Knives Out or then taking on Marilyn Monroe and all those things are, I was terrified every time. Every step of the way, I was very scared and nervous. But I do love a challenge, and I think that’s what makes it unforgettable and special and worth your time and your energy.
Thank you to Ana de Armas for discussing From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.
Source: Comingsoon.net