Why Ana de Armas Almost Passed on Starring in Knives Out

Ana de Armas said she almost passed on playing Marta in Rian Johnson's Knives Out, and it was for good reason.

By Cydney Contreras Oct 02, 2020 1:37 AMTags
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When Knives Out was released in November 2019, it was an immediate hit.

With a cast that included Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni ColletteMichael Shannon and more, it was guaranteed to be a blockbuster. But it was Ana de Armas that the audience fell in love with, and the crazy thing is she almost didn't audition for the role.

The Flaunt cover star revealed that upon reading the description ("Latina, caretaker, pretty") of her character Marta, she felt it wasn't the project for her. "I really pay attention to what that little description is," she explained. "I'm sure whoever did it wasn't thinking about what that meant but for me, I was just like, ‘Oh no, I'm not doing this!' What do you mean—caretaker, Latina, pretty?'"

She noted that, "Things could have been very different," had the film's author, Rian Johnson, not sent a more accurate vision of who Marta is. 

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"My character was a diamond," she recalled. "When they sent the whole script and I read the whole thing I realized ‘oh my gosh I have to do this.'" 

Ana, who is dating Ben Affleck, went on to secure the role and acted alongside stars who she always admired, one of whom is now a good friend. That person, one may ask? Well, it's Jamie Lee Curtis. 

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The actress said that Jamie was one of the people to encourage her to go for the role of Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, a role that she ultimately nabbed. Ana shared, "She is my biggest cheerleader... I showed her my screen test for Marilyn and of course I had on like a random wig they found which didn't fit me, so-so make up and so-so wardrobe but even then, seeing me in the part like that, she got very excited."

And Jamie was rightfully excited for the Cuba native. 

It's not every day that a person of Latinx origins becomes the star of one of Hollywood's most anticipated biopics, which Ana acknowledged, saying, "I'm not going to let anybody or anything tell me I cannot dream of playing Marilyn Monroe... Things need to change [in the industry] but you have to actively push for change too... you have to present your version of the character in a different way. You have to challenge."

And a challenge presented itself when she was asked to be a Bond girl alongside her former co-star Daniel Craig. Unlike other roles, this required more grueling action scenes, which she said she enjoyed. 

Fans can see her as Bond's sidekick when No Time to Die is released in November.