Hollywood "It Girl" Ana de Armas, 31, is gracing the cover of the newest issue of Porter magazine, where she gave an interview that revealed more details about her life and the whirlwind year ahead of her.
De Armas' breakout role was in the 2019 blockbuster mystery comedy Knives Out, in which she played Marta Cabrera—a part she almost turned down because Cabrera was described as a "pretty Latin caretaker," and she didn't want to contribute to negative Latinx stereotypes. She changed her mind once she read the script, and the depth and nuance that she brought to the character earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.
The nomination "was very unexpected for me, and obviously I was proud and honored," she told Porter. "I was really nervous and kind of wishing I wasn’t going to win, so I wouldn’t have to go up on stage."
Luckily for her, she didn't win, but the film did put her in the spotlight. Director Rian Johnson has previously said that the Knives Out sequel would feature a totally new cast, but the fact that Johnson thinks so highly of the actress makes it seem like it's not impossible for de Armas to be part of Knives Out 2.
"There’s something about Ana on screen that instantly earns an audience’s empathy," Johnson told Porter. "Maybe that has something to do with her genuine good heart and open demeanor in life. With Ana, what you see is what you get. She’s very confident and comfortable as a person. No games, no drama. Just a cool woman who’s very good at her job."
De Armas is hitting the big screen as the new Bond girl, Paloma, in the 007 film No Time to Die on April 10th. She's previously spoken about how Paloma won't be your average Bond girl, promising that her take on the iconic role will feel a lot more messy and real than the bikini-clad bombshells we're used to.
She told Porter that reuniting with her Knives Out co-star Daniel Craig "was so great." But the set—which was built at London's Pinewood Studios and meant to be a replica of downtown Havana—didn't stir up any feelings of nostalgia for the Cuban native.
"It was completely freezing, so it did not feel like home,” she said. “But I was impressed by how beautiful and realistic it was. It went on and on forever."
While it wasn't exactly on par with the glamour of Hollywood, de Armas spoke fondly of growing up in Havana, where her screentime was limited to 20 minutes of cartoons on Saturdays and a movie on Sunday afternoons.
"In some ways, it just made it more special,” she said. “There was such a short time to watch something. You knew you had to do your homework and help clean the house in time to watch the midday movie. When you finally got in front of the TV, you didn’t want to be bothered.”
She also credits her casual approach to fashion today to needing to wear her brother's hand-me-down-clothes.
"In the morning, I get up so early to go to set," she said. "I see the cute boots or the sneakers when I’m deciding what to wear, and I always choose the sneakers.”
Fresh from filming the erotic thriller Deep Water with Ben Affleck in New Orleans, de Armas is also set to star as Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming Netflix movie Blonde. In a recent cover interview with Vanity Fair, de Armas said that being a Latina playing Marilyn Monroe felt "groundbreaking," and it certainly sounds like she did her research for the iconic role.
"I read everything I could about Marilyn,” she told Porter. “It wasn’t just about transforming physically to look the part, it was about understanding her emotional life, how intelligent she was, and how fragile.”
De Armas has quite the busy schedule these days, but that suits her just fine, as she admitted that she gets "very anxious" when things are slow, as she feels like she's "wasting time."
As one of Hollywood's fastest rising stars, we'd hedge a bet that there won't be many opportunities to waste time in her future.
