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With a beauty that has led her to be considered one of the most beautiful and sexiest actresses in the industry, Ana de Armas has managed to captivate the public with performances that have even earned her important nominations. However, he has also been the subject of strong criticism for his participation in not so successful projects. These have been the ups and downs in his career.

From Havana to Madrid

Ana was born in Havana, Cuba, where at the age of 12 she decided that she would be an actress after watching several movies in a neighbor's apartment, since there was no DVD player in hers. At 14 he enrolled in the National School of Art of Cuba to study acting and at 16 he got his first leading role, in the film Una rosa de Francia. At 18, after obtaining Spanish citizenship thanks to his maternal grandparents, he moved to Madrid, on the recommendation of an agent. Just a week after arriving, she auditioned and won the role of Carolina Leal in the popular series El internado, where she was for six seasons. This was followed by several films and series such as Hispania, the legend and Anabel, but his mind was on the other side of the world.

Takeoff in Hollywood

While filming films in Spain, Ana took English courses and sent recordings for auditions in the United States. Seeing that distance was not helping her, she decided to hire an agent in Hollywood and move to Los Angeles. Once there, he quickly landed one of the leading roles in Eli Roth's horror film, Knock Knock (2015), alongside Keanu Reeves, with whom he would share the screen some time later. For this film, Ana had to memorize her lines phonetically, because she didn't speak English well. After a couple of supporting roles in other productions, the one who promised to change her life arrived: Joi, the holographic companion created by artificial intelligence in Blade Runner 2049 (2017), by Denis Villeneuve. It was then that the public, especially the male one, fell in love with her.

Two great opportunities

After another couple of unremarkable roles, the actress managed to take another good leap: she obtained the role of Marta, a nurse involved in a mysterious murder in Knives Out (2019), alongside Daniel Craig and Chris Evans. Her work earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best actress. However, after this came other projects with little success, such as The Informer, The Night Clerk, The Gray Man and even a role as a Bond girl, again alongside Craig, in No Time to Die (2021). But for some reason the critics did not quite “accept” her as an already accomplished actress. It was then when, in a risky decision by director Andrew Dominik, Ana was chosen to play Marilyn Monroe in the Netflix biopic Blonde, which would make her the first Latin actress to step into the shoes of this iconic character.

Criticism for her accent in Blonde

Although this project earned Ana nominations for best actress at the Oscars, the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes and the SAGs, the film was harshly criticized by many who considered it “sexist” and “cruel” for its way of portraying traumatic moments in Marilyn's life. Additionally, critics focused on Ana's accent, which they said detracted from the credibility of her work because few things are as iconic in American pop culture as Marilyn. In an interview, the actress said that she worked hard for months with a diction teacher, but, in the end, she focused on interpreting her feelings, her voice and her insecurities, “not on imitating her.” However, ABG, the company that owns Marilyn Monroe's estate, had the final say: "Ana was an excellent casting choice, as she captures Marilyn's glamour, humanity and vulnerability," they said in a statement.

A thread on Reddit

After Blonde, the actress participated in the action comedy Ghosted (2023), which was a failure, and in Ron Howard's Eden, which had mixed reviews. These professional ups and downs have not gone unnoticed by the public, since a thread, or forum, called The Curious Case of Ana de Armas was created on the famous social network Reddit, where users have left their comments. “Is there anyone so famous whose movies are, for the most part, so bad?” wrote one Redditor. “I think he has trouble choosing good projects, or a bad agent,” another person commented. "It seems to me that in most movies they don't know how to use her. They stereotype her as Latina or give her minor roles," someone else said. In 2025, Ana had success with Ballerina, the John Wick spin-off, so perhaps she will achieve stability in the future.