Before Ben Affleck Married J.Lo, He Quietly Had A Whirlwind Romance With Ana De Armas
Ben Affleck made headlines with his marriage to his former flame Jennifer Lopez. But before he and J.Lo rekindled their romance, he had a relationship with rising star Ana de Armas. The much talked-about actress is fast becoming an icon in her own right, drawing plenty of attention with her portrayal of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe.
Controversial take
Blonde is the controversial new screen version of Monroe’s life. Now streaming on Netflix, it presents a grueling and fictional version of her successes and struggles, though it’s rooted in what we know of her real-life story. Based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates and directed by Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James), it features an acclaimed central performance by de Armas.
The rise of Ana de Armas
Starting her career in her home country of Cuba, de Armas then relocated first to Spain and eventually to LA. Her earliest notable Hollywood roles included thriller Knock Knock with Keanu Reeves in 2015 and the much-lauded 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049. This saw de Armas working with major director Denis Villeneuve (Dune) and Ryan Gosling, not to mention Harrison Ford. More on Gosling shortly.
His word is her Bond
Another good year for Ana de Armas was 2019, when she took the role of nurse Marta Cabrera in hit mystery Knives Out. Daniel Craig starred as a laid-back detective and audiences loved the end result. More than holding her own against a stellar supporting cast, which included late screen legend Christopher Plummer, de Armas was now getting serious attention.
Pay attention 007
Talented and versatile, next she went into the action genre with aplomb. Re-teaming with Craig for his final Bond movie No Time To Die in 2021, she later worked with Ryan Gosling again for Netflix’s The Gray Man (2022). The latter release received mixed reviews but was enough of a hit for both a sequel and spin-off to be greenlit.
