Ana de Armas dismisses idea of gender-swap of iconic characters, bats for original female actions films

Los Angeles, April 3 (IANS) Hollywood actress Ana de Armas is not in favour of gender-swapping in legacy titles like ‘James Bond’.

The actress feels there should be more films like her forthcoming bare-knuckle action project ‘Ballerina’, rather than tinkering with gender-swapping legacy characters like James Bond, reports ‘Variety’.

The actress is on the ground at CinemaCon, promoting her ‘John Wick’ spinoff from Lionsgate, where she had a discourse prompted this week by actor Helen Mirren.

As per ‘Variety’, the dame and screen legend recently told the UK’s Guardian that she “never liked the way women were in James Bond”, and that the concept around the billion-dollar spy franchise “is drenched and born out of profound sexism”.

Ana de Armas made a triumphant debut in the 2021 Bond film ‘No Time to Die’, where her character Paloma was praised for breaking with Bond Girl tradition. The character not only got the movie’s biggest laughs, she held her own in gun and hand combat alongside Daniel Craig, saving his Tom Ford-suited ass in their scenes together.

“Why don’t we have more movies about Paloma? Let James be James and John Wick be John Wick. We’ll do our thing”, the actress said during an appearance at The John Wick Experience, a multi-room immersive pop-up, where fans can check into the notorious Continental Hotel featured in the Keanu Reeves films.

She shared, “When you get a woman fighting, you’ll be surprised the things she can pull off”.

The Oscar nominee also noted that the Bond storytelling universe can open to new stories now that its longtime producers have handed the keys to Amazon MGM.

“I’m sure that Barbara Broccoli and Robert Wilson made the best decision for James Bond. Whatever happens, that can go anywhere (creatively)”, she said of future narratives from the world of Ian Fleming’s spy novels.

At Lionsgate’s Monday presentation for the annual convention of movie theater owners, de Armas proved that ‘Ballerina’ is an exemplary blueprint for the kind of female-led action fare she wants to see in the marketplace.

As Eve Maccaro, a dancer turned assassin avenging her father’s death, the actress cuts a gritty (and pretty glamorous) figure taking blows to the face and axes (nearly) to the dome.

She said that her preparation and shooting schedule were relentless, and that trainers prioritized calorie cycling and recovery.

–IANS

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