Ana de Armas demonstrates tremendous skills playing Eve Macarro in Ballerina – the new spinoff/sequel from the John Wick franchise. With a variety of weapons in hand (or sans weapons), she operates like a veteran ass-kicker. Watchin the movie, one can respect that she gained a lot of confidence as an action star in the making of the blockbuster... but that confidence also led her straight into a seriously emotional experience when it came time to shooting the film's flamethrower sequences.
When I interviewed director Len Wiseman about Ballerina earlier this year, he told me about how his lead actress cried when she first set a stuntperson on fire, and CinemaBlend's own Hannah Saulic asked Ana de Armas for her own perspective on events while speaking to her at the film's New York press day. She explained that she initially declined practice with the flamethrower, figuring she could learn how to use it on set, but the stunt crew explained that it was something she needed to get used to:
Yeah. I think it's, you know, for the most part, the training is more focused on the fights. You know, the physical fights and the choreos and knives and guns and all that. But I never got to practice with a flamethrower, and I definitely [...] the fire. It's a scary thing. And I remember they asked me to rehearse the day before filming and I was like, ‘No, that's not necessary. I'll just do it on the day.’ And they were like, ‘No, no, you really need to just feel it and the heat on your face and everything how it moves.’
Part of the John Wick aesthetic is not only doing things practically but having stars perform the majority of their own stunts. There was no CGI flamethrower, and there was never intention to use a double. The No Time To Die star was given a seriously dangerous weapon that blasted real fire.
Continuing, Ana de Armas said that she knew that she was working with the best in the business when it came to using fire on set and that everyone was being as safe as possible... but that knowledge didn't soften the fact that she was setting another human being aflame. Subsequent blasts didn't affect her the same way, but it sounds like it's something she'll never forget:
And I did it, and I knew I was with the best people in the business, like just doing fire. But still when I shot that, you know, this guy and he got on fire, I was I had to like, drop it. And I walked away, and I had to unzip my thing and just cry. It was really emotional. It’s just such a visual, horrible thing to, you know, to have in your… it's in my brain forever, you know, but everyone was safe, and I and I knew that. And, you know, I got comfortable with it afterwards. And then I burned 105 people after that.
That "105" number may seem like a lot, but after watching Ballerina, you'll find yourself saying, "Yeah, that sounds about right."
On that note, audiences will have the opportunity to see the film starting this weekend when it arrives in theaters everywhere – the new John Wick title featuring a talented ensemble including Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves. After you do, be sure to head back here to CinemaBlend for more from our interviews with the cast.
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