How Ana de Armas became a screen star

Ana de Armas became familiar through sharply different screen roles. She played the holographic companion Joi in Blade Runner 2049 in 2017, then the caregiver Marta in 2019’s Knives Out. The latter brought a 2020 Golden Globe nomination for actress in a musical or comedy. Moving from an imagined companion to a character navigating a wealthy family gave audiences two different points of connection: a recognisable face and a role they could follow through a story.

Paloma in 2021’s No Time to Die added a playful action presence. In an interview on the official Bond website, stunt coordinator Olivier Schneider explained how her dress and heels complicated the choreography. A useful way to appreciate the sequence is to watch the changes between movement and expression: the character supplies humour while keeping the action moving.

Blonde placed her in another viewing context. Her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe earned a leading-actress nomination at the 2023 Oscars. That nomination marks a verifiable career milestone and offers a reason to revisit her work through the choices involved in building a character. By this point, her filmography had crossed science fiction, mystery and action before taking on a dramatisation centred on a famous performer.

In 2025, she starred in Ballerina, set in the world of John Wick. The route from appearing in a Bond film to leading an action film gives that earlier experience a new setting. Together, these roles provide a useful answer to why she became familiar: audiences encountered her repeatedly across genres, with a different performance to attach to the face each time. Following Joi, Marta and Paloma is an inviting route into that progression.