Bond girl Ana De Armas opens up about leaving Cuba to launch acting career with just £260 in her pocket
She is now a Hollywood star and Bond girl – but Ana De Armas started off in far more humble beginnings when she first set out to make her big screen dreams come true.
The Knives Out actress, 32, has opened up about how she left Cuba for Spain aged 18 with just €300 – approximately £260 – in her pocket.
Speaking to The Sunday Times’ Style magazine, she said: “In Cuba, you live in a bubble. I didn’t know what the world was like. I had never travelled before in my life.”
The star – who is rumoured to have recently split with boyfriend Ben Affleck – insisted she thought the funds would be enough, but “sometimes not knowing too much doesn’t let you overthink too much”.
De Armas added: “I guess – and I mean it in the best possible way – being ignorant about some things may help you, because you don’t have any fear. I just went and did it.
“If I had to do it now, knowing what it’s like and what I had to go through, I’d be scared. But I’m glad I did it. I didn’t think about it twice.”
Within weeks of arriving in Madrid, she landing a role on Spanish television series El Internado.
After a few years on the show – and a two-year marriage to Spanish actor and model Marc Clotet – she upped sticks for Los Angeles.
This year, De Armas is due to reunite on screen with Knives Out co-star Daniel Craig in the new Bond film, No Time To Die, which has just seen its release date delayed again to October.
The star is also set to play Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, and appears opposite rumoured ex Affleck in Deep Water.
She met the 48-year-old actor on the set of the film adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel, and the pair were frequently pictured walking the streets of LA together during the first lockdown last spring.
Earlier today, she shared her first Instagram post – images of the Style shoot – since their breakup was reported by Page Six.
