With “The Gray Man” on the way later this month and Andrew Dominik‘s “Blonde” out in September, it’s a big year for Ana de Armas on Netflix. But the actress’s star has been rising for some time now. She arguably broke out in Hollywood back in Eli Roth‘s 2015 house-invasion film “Knock Knock,” but her role as Joie in 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” solidified her stardom. And Rian Johnson‘s 2019 caper “Knives Out” launched her into the stratosphere.
But apparently, not everyone on the “Knives Out” set was aware of de Armas and her burgeoning superstardom. At least Jamie Lee Curtis wasn’t, and she openly admitted that to Elle for a long-form piece about de Armas. “I assumed — and I say this with real embarrassment — because she had come from Cuba, that she had just arrived,” Curtis told the magazine, “I made an assumption that she was an inexperienced, unsophisticated young woman. That first day, I was like, ‘Oh, what are your dreams?’”
Curtis’ lack of recognition of de Armas is baffling, if not embarrassing, given the big parts de Armas had before “Knives Out” even reached production. Still, Curtis immediately recognized de Armas’ talent and vowed to help her career in any way possible. Evidently, she asked about de Armas’ dreams so she could introduce her to Steven Spielberg for a potential audition as Maria for his “West Side Story” remake, or to her godchildren, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal. But de Armas already knew Jake and had plenty of A-lister connections already. If it’s not already obvious, Curtis looks like quite the bonehead in this anecdote.
In any case, Curtis still had praise for de Armas as both an actress and a person. “She is not as fancy as maybe the advertisements would have you believe,” Curtis continued, “She leans in, interested; talking to her is kind of give-and-take. She’s curious and asks a lot of questions.” So, maybe de Armas isn’t an unsophisticated, inexperienced young woman, but she does have a down-to-earth attitude. Not quite a full save there, Jamie Lee, but we’ll take it.
Curtis was also impressed with de Armas’ rendition of Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming “Blonde.” As the daughter of Tony Curtis, Monroe’s co-star in 1959’s “Some Like It Hot,” Jamie Lee got a sneak peek at de Armas in her upcoming role, and she was blown away. “I dropped to the floor. I couldn’t believe it,” Curtis said about de Armas’ performance, “Ana was completely gone. She was Marilyn.” De Armas trained for nine months with a dialect coach to perfect Monroe’s signature voice, so it sounds like her hard work paid off. Audiences find out for themselves when “Blonde” hits Netflix on September 23 (or perhaps earlier, if the film premieres at Venice in late August).
What’s next for de Armas and Curtis? De Armas just wrapped work on “Ghosted,” an actioner for AppleTV+ with her “Knives Out” and “The Gray Man” co-star Chris Evans. She also has the “John Wick” spin-off “Ballerina” on deck. As for Curtis, she had a very memorable role in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” earlier this year, but “Halloween Ends” also comes out this October. She also stars in the upcoming “Borderlands” videogame adaptation, out next year.