Ana de Armas, born in Havana in 1988, grew up in the small Cuban town of Santa Cruz del Norte. The daughter of university students enjoyed a joyful childhood shaped by the island’s simple routines. She jokes about pop culture gaps, noting there was no internet or DVDs at home. As a teenager, she mimicked Emma from the Spice Girls and later discovered a neighbor’s home theater. During one of those visits, she felt drawn to the stage after watching Danny DeVito in Matilda, the character who showed a girl who could do it all and inspired her to pursue acting.
Ana de Armas nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Actress for Blonde
300 Euros to Spain
She enrolled in the Havana Theater School and quickly advanced to directing in her second year. Manuel Gutierrez Aragon invited her to appear in A Rose from France alongside Jorge Perugorría. At eighteen, she refreshed her Spanish passport and embraced dual citizenship, tracing her roots to Palencia and León, before heading to Madrid with only 300 euros in her pocket.
Two weeks to boarding school
The actress, newly arrived in Spain, underestimated her Cuban savings and slept on a sofa. Two weeks later, she met a casting director in Madrid, Louis San Narciso, who cast her in El Internado. Friends like Elena Furiase became lifelong allies from that era. Her mother Lolita supported the move as her family helped settle her after the crossing.
Young wife in real life
Love found its way early, and she wed an actor at twenty-three. The ceremony took place on a sunlit farm along the Costa Brava in the summer of 2011. The union ended less than two years later, and there is little public footage of the ceremony itself.
Leaving Madrid for new horizons
With the end of her marriage and the sense that her Spanish career risked being typecast, she decided to pursue opportunities in Los Angeles. It was advised not to audition solely for typical roles, given her limited English. She balanced acting with language work and appeared in Tick Tick Boom (2015) alongside Keanu Reeves, who would soon become a mentor. Reeves helped open doors to her next projects, accelerating her international breakout.
From Blade Runner to Bond girl
Critics who doubted a long Hollywood journey for her were silenced when she starred opposite Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford in Blade Runner 2049. She later worked with esteemed actors like Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Penélope Cruz, and Helen Hunt. Ana de Armas became the first Spaniard to portray a Bond girl in No Time to Die, alongside Daniel Craig, marking a milestone in her career.
A relationship with Ben Affleck
During the filming of the psychological thriller Deep Water in 2019, she formed a relationship with Ben Affleck, following his divorce from Jennifer Garner. The pair spent much of the pandemic period together, with de Armas becoming a style icon through her public presence, even when red carpets were sparse. Their relationship drew attention as she continued to build her career on screen and screen globally.
Later, she began a relationship with Paul Boukadakis, 38, a senior executive at a major tech company, who drew attention for his work in the digital world and his connection to her continued public profile.
The weight of time
Time magazine named her among its Most Influential People in 2021, noting that every honoree had someone close to them who helped explain the significance of the nomination. In her case, Jamie Lee Curtis, who had worked with her during filming, publicly praised her talent and potential, underscoring the respect she earned within the industry.
Netflix’s Marilyn
Her greatest recent achievement came with the portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in Netflix’s provocative biopic Blonde, adapted from Joyce Carol Oates’s novel. The project, backed by Plan B Entertainment, featured a roster of predecessors considered for the role, including Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts, and marked a defining moment in de Armas’s career as a leading actress on a global stage.