Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves share a strong bond of friendship. She sheds light on this friendly closeness during her lecture at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia.
More than a decade ago, the actress revealed that when she landed in Los Angeles and landed her first role in Eli Roth’s Knock Knock, that’s where she first met the Johannes Wick star.
“I barely spoke English at the time,” the star recalled during an In Conversation session at the festival, adding: “It was quite a frustrating journey not being able to fully communicate, but we still had a great time.” We had a very good bond and we have a beautiful friendship.”
Ana echoes what many in the industry describe as Keanu being “kind and generous” as she says it was a “full circle moment” to be reunited with him. Ballerniaa spin-off in the Johannes Wick universe.
“It felt like things had come full circle. Keanu and Chad [Stahelski] I built such a beautiful world with those films, and the fact that he was there and supported me ten years later meant a lot,” she says.
About the action thriller, Ana says that the role in the film required intensive physical training. “The training was brutal. It lasted months before shooting and continued during filming. There’s no time to rehearse everything, so you learn and adapt on the fly. It was exhausting, but I enjoyed it. I learned so much.”
The star, born in Cuba, played her role in Ballerina in a broader context of her career trajectory.
“I never thought of myself as athletic and never thought I would make action films. It started with No Time to Die, then The Gray Man and Ghosted, and Ballerina was another level – very challenging, very demanding. But it was also an exciting character to play, and I loved expanding that universe,” Ana concludes.
