At the moment, Daniel Craig is celebrating the end of his run as 007 in the decades-long James Bond film franchise. For his last outing, he is joined by actress Ana de Armas who is the latest Bond girl.
Following the release of No Time to Die, critics have noted the palpable chemistry between Craig and de Armas (the actress also gained praise for her kickass portrayal of a CIA agent who ends up working with Craig’s Bond). And since they have a (working) history together, one wonders exactly how close they’ve become.
Ana De Armas Almost Refused To Do Her First Film With Daniel Craig
Especially as a Latina actress, it has always been incredibly important for de Armas to not fall into stereotypes. This is precisely why she initially turned down Rian’s Johnson’s Knives Out after the character of Marta Cabrera was described to the actress as a “pretty Latina caretaker.” “Getting an email that described the character like that — without any more information or a script attached because it was high-profile and secret — just really didn’t speak to me,” de Armas explained while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter. “So, because of the character description, my imagination immediately went to a portrayal that was not necessarily very positive or exciting in relation to Latin culture.”
As it turns out, however, there was a lot a more to the character (de Armas agreed to do the film after reading the script). Even Craig recognized immediately that Marta was really the central character of Johnson’s whodunnit story. “Ana de Armas is playing this character Marta, who is basically the heartbeat of the movie,” the actor told NPR. “And her predicament is very modern and up-to-date.”
Once production was underway, de Armas found herself working alongside veteran actors like Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the late Christopher Plummer. And while the actress admitted that she was initially “terrified” to join the movie with “very little rehearsal” (she came from another film set), it seems her co-stars put her to ease eventually. In fact, Craig and Evans (along with Johnson himself) were even more than willing to help de Armas prepare for her vomit scene. “I remember we all went outside to the garden — Rian, Chris, Daniel, etc,” de Armas recalled. “Everyone put this baby food in their mouth, and we all started projecting the vomit into the air just to see which one would go farther and look better.”
As it turns out, Craig was also preparing to work on his final Bond film while shooting with Johnson. Around this time though, de Armas had no idea that she was about to join to join the Bond universe as well.
He Was Supportive Of Her Bond Casting
De Armas may have met with the James Bond franchise’s Barbara Broccoli several years ago but essentially, nothing came of the meeting. When director Cary Fukunaga signed on to do Craig’s final Bond film, however, he knew de Armas had to be the new Bond girl early on. “Some of the film takes place in Cuba, and Cary called me to say that this character doesn’t exist yet in the script, but he kept thinking about me and would write it for me,” the actress recalled. “When he brought up the idea to Barbara and Daniel, Daniel was completely on board and supportive of it, which made me very happy.”
As exciting as the prospect may have been, however, de Armas was, once again, hesitant to take the role for fear of getting stereotyped. “Obviously I was jumping all over the place and very excited,” the actress told Collider. “But I needed to be sure it wouldn’t jeopardize all the work I’d been putting in, that it wouldn’t ruin everything. And the Bond women have always been, for me at least, unrelatable.” Luckily, Craig knew just how to fix that. He insisted on bringing in Killing Eve’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge who gave de Armas’ character more grit. “Phoebe came on, and she injected some brilliance into the situation, and a tone I was really after,” Craig also told Total Film.
Once de Armas started filming with Craig again, things just fell into place. “Having met Daniel before and getting along so well on the set of Knives Out, there was nothing awkward when I got to the Bond set,” she remarked. “There was no ice to be broken. It was just easy and smooth.” De Armas was also relieved that Craig was still the actor playing 007 when she joined the franchise. “I was very glad (he was there) with all the nerves and pressure of going to shoot the film...,” the actress told Flaunt magazine. “It’s always very strange on the first day of a movie when you get there and it’s all-new. (With Bond) there is a crew who have been making Bond movies before, so they all know each other—suddenly I am the new one! To have Daniel next to me after Knives Out was a great support.”
At the moment, it is unclear if Craig and de Armas will be working together again soon. As fans may know, however, Craig has already signed up to do a Knives Out sequel. As for de Armas, she has expressed interest in reprising her character too.
