In her career, she has no shortage of roles and fashion photos that show off her body. However, the actress said she had rejected many projects simply because she wanted to find a "beautiful Latin girl".
Male lead Daniel Craig - who starred with Ana in the movie "Knives Out" - highly appreciated her acting ability. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga said he has been a fan of Ana for a long time, saying the role of Paloma was written specifically for her. "Ana is witty, confident and not afraid of challenges. These are natural qualities that help her shine on screen. Ana adds humor to the character Paloma, something I didn't think about before filming," Cary told Vanity Fair.
Ana de Armas was born in 1988 in the town of Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba - in a Spanish family whose father is a teacher and mother is an office worker. Since childhood, she has been passionate about art, especially acting and singing. In her hometown, she formed a music group specializing in covering hits of the Spice Girls. At the age of 12, Ana decided to pursue acting and dreamed of going to theater school.
However, Ana's passion is not supported by her family. "They always think my products are a knockoff or something bad," she told Vanity Fair. Ana said her parents always refuse to attend her movie premieres. The actress always wants to change this family stereotype.
At the age of 18, Ana left her family and went to Spain to find acting opportunities. Thanks to her hot appearance, she soon made her mark in a number of television series such as "El Internado", "Mentiras y gordas"... However, the actress gradually felt bored with her roles here. She often incarnates teenage girls, has a hot-tempered personality and performs sexy movements. "I don't see myself in the characters. Latina women don't wake up every morning, put on shorts and scream at everyone around them," she told Vanity Fair.
After nearly a decade in Spain, she told herself that going to Hollywood was the only way to get more breakthrough roles. In 2013, she and her husband Marc Clotet divorced. The broken marriage made Ana even more determined to leave Spain behind and come to America to try her hand. Her biggest barrier at that time was language. Ana spent many months learning English and meeting filmmakers in Hollywood to find projects. During some auditions, she read her lines in front of the director even though she didn't understand what she was saying.
Ana had her first project in Hollywood in 2015, appearing in "Knock Knock" with actor Keanu Reeves. The film was not commercially successful but helped her win the main role in "Exposed" (2016) - continuing alongside Keanu. In 2017, Ana broke through with the fantasy film "Blade Runner 2049", playing the character of virtual assistant Joi, whom the male lead K (Ryan Gosling) falls in love with. According to Hollywood Reporter, the role was widely praised by critics, as "the heart and soul of the film".
In 2019, Ana made her mark with the movie Knives Out, receiving her first Golden Globe nomination. Co-star Jamie Lee Curtis predicts that Ana will become the new Sophia Loren (famous Italian star of the 1950s) in Hollywood. "Ana is delicate, profound, gentle and stunningly beautiful. Her homeland of Cuba hones her tenacity, perseverance and fierceness at work," Lee said.
Ana de Armas currently lives in Havana, Cuba with her family, and often goes to the US to film. Besides "No Time to Die", the project Ana is waiting for most is the transformation of "sex bomb" Marilyn Monroe in "Blonde", currently in the ideation stage. This year, she has many notable projects, such as the horror film "Deep Water" with Ben Affleck, the crime film "The Night Clerk" with Helen Hunt or the Netflix series "Sergio".
Ana said that the role in the new James Bond movie is a big challenge. She wanted to portray a character who is not simply a "decorative object" next to agent 007. "No Time to Die is the first 007 film in the Time's Up era - promoting a fair and safe working environment for women," Ana said.