At the Red Sea International Film Festival, Ana de Armas didn’t hold back. She eased into her story with the kind of honesty reporters love — a blend of reflection, small asides, and just enough vulnerability to feel real. And at the center of that story, once again, was Keanu Reeves.
Ana de Armas traced their friendship back to the chaos of her early Los Angeles days, when she barely spoke English and somehow found herself sharing scenes with Keanu Reeves in Knock Knock.
She admitted the communication gaps were frustrating, but even then, something clicked. He made the work lighter, she said. He made Hollywood feel less intimidating.
The audience laughed when Ana de Armas called their bond “accidentally full-circle.”
Reuniting with Keanu Reeves for Ballerina, almost ten years later, felt like a quiet reassurance that she was on the right path. He showed up with the same steady support he offered when she was still figuring out who she was in the industry.
She shifted briefly to how she ended up doing action films at all, calling it “one of those things that just happened.” No Time to Die opened the door, The Gray Man pushed her further, and Ballerina, where she again worked alongside Keanu Reeves, pushed her to her limits.
The training was brutal, she said, but she loved surprising herself.
Between career milestones, Ana de Armas shared small flashes of her Cuba-to-Spain-to-Hollywood journey, the school plays, the move to Madrid at 18 with almost no money, the decision to restart her career in Los Angeles where no one knew her name.
Her breakthrough came with Blade Runner 2049, and then Blonde, which she said changed her as an actress.
Before wrapping up, Ana de Armas addressed the question she knows everyone wonders about: her dynamic with Keanu Reeves. It isn’t romantic, she stressed. It’s respect, history, and the rare kind of Hollywood friendship that actually lasts.