See Ana De Armas Busting Out Of A Classic Hollywood Gown
Ana de Armas wore a Marilyn Monroe-inspired mermaid gown to the Oscars.
Ana de Armas is channeling Old Hollywood as she poses in a glamorous silver dress with sparkling jewels and fish scale-like ruffles on the skirt, blowing a kiss at the camera in a photo posted by Greg Williams Photography on Instagram. The actress was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Blonde, a film about Marilyn Monroe, but her resemblance to the late bombshell in this dress was not intentional. According to the actress, Ana de Armas saw the sparkling silver dress as something more like a “mermaid” dress.
While the film Blonde was not very well-received by critics — to which its 42 percent Rotten Tomatoes critics score can attest — Ana de Armas has won much critical acclaim herself because of it. The Latina actress has been frequently lauded for her incredible commitment to getting Monroe’s mannerisms and accent just right, putting her in the same category as Austin Butler and his (almost too dedicated) dedication to his role as Elvis Presley in Elvis.
While it may seem like Ana de Armas is just now coming into the zeitgeist, she has actually been present in Hollywood for quite some time – and has been a star of film and screen for much longer. The Cuban-Spanish actress was born in Havana, Cuba, and decided to become an actress when she was just 12 years old, in spite of her parents not letting her watch more than 20 minutes of cartoons on Saturday at home and one movie on Sundays.
Ana de Armas watched other movies at her neighbor’s apartment and caught the acting bug while watching Hollywood films. She memorized lines and monologues from them and practiced them in front of a mirror until she got them just right. At age 14, she took this passion and talent and used it to join Havana’s National Theatre of Cuba.
She filmed three movies while she was a student there but ultimately left the program before delivering her final thesis. This was a strategic move, as graduates in Cuba are not allowed to leave the country unless they do three years of mandatory community service.
So, to continue pursuing her acting dreams without interruption, Ana de Armas moved to Spain at 18 years old and began her acting career in earnest. She starred in several movies and was cast in the popular television drama El Internado, in which she starred in for six seasons. In spite of the popularity of that show, de Armas felt typecast as a teenager, so she went to New York to try something different.
Ana de Armas spent a few months in NYC learning to speak English, then went back to Spain to star in a few more films before feeling as if she were getting “stuck” again. So, she went back to the United States in 2014 and started auditioning for movies in Los Angeles. Her first Hollywood film was Knock Knock, in which she starred with Keanu Reeves.
The actress then caught some flack for her English not quite being up to par, but that didn’t stop her from going on to play more and more roles, which got bigger all the time. Ana de Armas went on to star as Joi, Ryan Gosling’s AI girlfriend in Blade Runner 2049, and as an immigrant nurse in Knives Out, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.
Things have only continued to get better from there, as Ana de Armas has officially landed on critics’ radar – in a good way.
