Ana de Armas began her film career as a teen theater student in her native Cuba, and she began her run on the famous Spanish teen drama El Internado in 2007. After relocating to Hollywood, she appeared in films such as Hands of Stone and War Dogs (both in 2016), before emerging as a standout in the high-profile films Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and Knives Out (2017). (2019). Following her turn as a spunky Bond girl in No Time to Die (2021), de Armas played Marilyn Monroe in Blonde (2022).
How Old Is Ana de Armas?
Ana Celia de Armas Caso was born on April 30, 1988, in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba.
Early Life and Theater School
De Armas, the daughter of a teacher and a human resources worker, grew up in a small beach town on Cuba’s northern coast with her brother, Javier. It was an environment that encouraged an active childhood spent mostly outside. “I didn’t even have a PlayStation or a DVD player,” she told Men’s Journal. “The only thing I could do was go out there and play with the other kids.”
When she was nine years old, her family relocated to the Cuban capital of Havana. The immersion into big-city culture accelerated a desire to express herself through performance for a girl who once assumed the persona of “Baby Spice” in a Spice Girls cover band.
De Armas enrolled in Cuba’s National Theater School at the age of 14 and made her feature film debut at the age of 16 in Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón’s drama Una Rosa de Francia (2006). The burgeoning actress went on to star in two more films, Madrigal and El edén perdido (both 2007), but her hectic schedule caused her to clash with her teachers, and she dropped out of school at the age of 18 to pursue her career in Spain.
Spanish Films and TV Shows
Despite arriving in a foreign country with few contacts and only 200 Euros, de Armas hit the ground running and landed the role of Carolina in the teen drama El Internado (2007-10). The murder-mystery series quickly became one of the most popular shows on Spanish television, and de Armas capitalized on her rising star by starring in the sexually charged comedy Mentiras y Gordas (2009).
Following her departure from El Internado, de Armas appeared as the enslaved Nerea in the historical series Hispania, la leyenda (2010-12). She continued her career on the big screen by appearing in the horror film El callejón (2011) and as the HIV-positive Sol in the romantic comedy Por un puado de Besos (2014).
American Movies
In search of new career opportunities, de Armas relocated to the United States in 2014 to learn English and try her luck in Hollywood. Despite having to learn her lines phonetically for her first English-language roles, the combination of her natural talents and radiant beauty catapulted her to stardom.
‘Knock Knock,’ ‘Hands of Stone,’ ‘War Dogs’
De Armas made her American debut in the psychological thriller Knock Knock (2015), a remake of 1977’s Death Game, alongside Keanu Reeves. Her reunion with Reeves for Exposed (2016) went largely unnoticed, but she gained attention for her role as the wife of boxing legend Roberto Durán in the biopic Hands of Stone. De Armas also made the most of her limited screen time in the crime comedy War Dogs, co-starring with Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, before landing in the high-octane production Overdrive (2017).
‘Blade Runner 2049’
De Armas’ career skyrocketed after he was cast in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, the highly anticipated sequel to the 1982 sci-fi classic. De Armas was recognized for providing the emotional core of a story in which humanity and artificial intelligence intersect, and for helping to drive its commercial and critical success as the holographic Joi, love interest to Ryan Gosling’s replicant K.
‘Knives Out’
Following supporting roles in the crime drama The Informer and the true-story-based Wasp Network (both in 2019), de Armas stood out among a star-studded cast in the Netflix mystery Knives Out. She almost skipped the project after hearing her character, Marta, described as a “pretty Latin caretaker.” But she warmed to the role after discovering Marta was more complex than expected, and her dedication to the role earned her her first Golden Globe nomination.
‘No Time to Die,’ ‘The Gray Man’
While the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die, was infamous for its production and COVID-related delays, the good news that emerged from the numerous script rewrites was a role written specifically for the Cuban actress. She eventually dazzled in her brief but memorable role as CIA Agent Paloma, helping to send her Knives Out co-star, Daniel Craig, out in style in his final 007 starring role. While de Armas insists that action films are “not where I’m most comfortable,” she reprised her role as a CIA operative in the summer 2022 Netflix thriller The Gray Man, alongside Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans.
‘Blonde’
Another watershed moment came when de Armas was cast as Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, a long-gestating project based on Joyce Carol Oates’ best-selling novel. According to the actress, proving that a Cuban could play the iconic bombshell was a difficult process: “I only had to audition once for Marilyn, and Andrew told me, ‘It’s you,’ but I had to audition for everyone else. The creators. People with money. I was always trying to persuade people.”
More critics emerged following the release of a trailer that revealed traces of her Spanish accent, but the Marilyn Monroe Estate and producer Brad Pitt were among those who defended the star ahead of the film’s September 2022 release.
Relationships, Personal Life and Ben Affleck
From 2011 to 2013, De Armas was married to Spanish actor and model Marc Clotet. Years later, she became the subject of extensive tabloid coverage when she dated Hollywood hunk Ben Affleck, her co-star in Deep Water (2022), for the majority of 2020. Following that, she began dating Tinder executive Paul Boukadakis.
In addition to her screen work, de Armas is a spokesperson for Only Natural Diamonds. She maintains close ties with her friends and family in Cuba and visits her Havana home.