Ana de Armas has become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in recent years and rightfully so. In just a few years, the Cuban actress has pretty much done it all, from delivering a breakout performance in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out to becoming a Bond girl in the latest James Bond movie No Time to Die. Not to mention, de Armas has also taken on the unique challenge of portraying Marilyn Monroe in the semi-biographical Netflix film Blonde.At the same time, de Armas also stars in Joe and Anthony Russo’s Netflix film The Gray Man. And while the actress wasn’t necessarily sold on the film or its script in the beginning, de Armas surprisingly agreed to do it anyway.
Initially, There Was No Part For Ana De Armas In The Gray Man
Based on a novel by Mark Greaney, The Gray Man tells the story of former CIA operative Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling) who gets hunted all over the world by his former CIA colleague Lloyd (Chris Evans). In the novel, these two characters are primarily responsible for propelling the story forward.
For the big screen adaptation, however, the Russos believed they needed a third lead. They also knew it had to be a woman after they failed to do the film with Charlize Theron in the lead the first time.
“We knew we wanted a strong female character in the film. It's hard to have a character who's alone in a movie for large parts of the film because they can't talk about anything with anyone,” Joe explained.
“We knew we needed a complimentary character and we wanted somebody that had a slightly different motive, slightly different backstory, equally as competent, equally skilled, that he would clash with. There's a bit of a Midnight Run-quality between the two of them in the film.”
Anthony also remarked that it was “really important” to introduce a “partner-in-crime, so to speak.”
“You can explore a character as an author while the character's alone, because you're writing about the character in the third person, right? In a movie, you can't do that,” he said.
In the end, the brothers came up with the character of Dani Miranda, and they discussed the role with de Armas. “I mean let’s start with just writing a character like that. That’s the best,” the actress remarked. “That’s the best gift they actually gave me.”
Here’s Why Ana De Armas Said Yes To The Gray Man Even If Her Role ‘Needed Work’
While de Armas certainly appreciated how hard the Russos worked to create a new character for her in the movie, she wasn’t exactly impressed with the first iteration of the character. “The script still needed work,” the actress recalled when she first read The Gray Man. “My character needed work.”
Nonetheless, she happily agreed to do the movie because of the Russos themselves.
“The meeting went so well,” de Armas said. “Those two are so much fun.” At the same time, the actress appreciated the brothers’ collaborative nature.
“They just gave me the freedom to explore during the rehearsal times, what I was more comfortable with and what I wasn’t, and then they built my fights, my scenes around that,” she explained.
Ana De Armas Was Thrilled With Dani In The End
And while de Armas’s Dani also becomes Gosling’s love interest, she appreciated that the character wasn’t just written to satisfy a romance arc. “I was very happy to see that they didn’t rush this relationship,” the actress said. “But I was happy that the focus was on the mission.”
As far as missions went, de Armas also had one for herself. Since Dani is CIA, she got on the phone with a CIA agent to ask about the agency's chain of command. “At the beginning, she’s very by-the-book, and that’s the mission, and it’s a big deal for her and her career and her reputation” the actress explained.
And as they went into production, de Armas also admired how well the Russos executed a large-scale action movie. “I just feel like they really love the genre, they know what they’re doing,” the actress explained.
“They know they know action so well, and they surround themselves with great teams, and they’re very communicative with the team so sometimes even when we work with the second unit or someone else shooting things, everyone knows what they’re doing. They’re great. You feel like you’re in good hands.”
Overall, the film features nine intense action sequences.
Following The Gray Man, de Armas has several other projects to work on, though she won't be returning for the Knives Out sequel; she will be appearing in the John Wick spinoff Ballerina. That said, she may also eventually reunite with the Russos again as the brothers have hinted about starting an entire franchise with The Gray Man although nothing has been announced yet. “Whatever’s going to happen in the future, I don’t know,” de Armas also said.
