Summary

Collider’s Erick Massoto sits down with Ballerina stars Ana de Armas and Ian McShane at CCXP 2024.

In the John Wick spin-off, De Armas brings her unique fighting style as Eve, who’s determined to get her revenge for a tragedy in her childhood.

In this interview, De Armas and McShane discuss the relationship between their characters, Eve’s fighting style, epic fight scenes, and Eve’s journey throughout the movie.

While the future of John Wick himself remains uncertain — Keanu Reeves is all for it, but his knees might not be — we do know that the franchise will keep going. This June, Ballerina comes to theaters with Ana de Armas taking the reins of the film series for the first time, and fans are curious to see the approach that the actor, along with new director Len Wiseman (Underworld franchise), brought to the spin-off.
In Ballerina, De Armas plays Eve, a girl who witnesses the death of her father and is quickly introduced to the world of The Continental, the High Table and deadly assassins by Winston (Ian McShane). Details of her journey are still blurry, but we do know that Reeves has a role in the story. The new movie takes place between John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, so that’s how Wick manages to return. The cast also features Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon), Anjelica Huston (Smash), Catalina Sandino Moreno (From), Gabriel Byrne (War of the Worlds), David Castañeda (The Umbrella Academy), Anne Parillaud (Nikita), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Sex Education) and the late Lance Reddick (Bosch).
In this interview with Collider’s Erick Massoto, De Armas and McShane reveal the extent of the relationship between their two characters and some of their favorite scenes from Ballerina. De Armas also shares her fighting techniques and how she managed to develop her own fighting style, factoring in the story element that Eve is a ballerina. McShane also comments on De Armas’ nickname, “Baby Yaga,” and teases some developments that give hints about the direction that the story might be going.
Ana de Armas Is Bringing Her Own Style to the Franchise

“She is the Baby Yaga.”

COLLIDER: Ana, the John Wick franchise has its own unique fighting style. I wanted to know if you could talk to us about how you found your way through that universe and, at the same time, made it your own fighting style inside that universe.
ANA DE ARMAS: I think there are some trademarks in the style of the fights in John Wick, and things that he does that are very particular to him. But because in this movie we’re seeing through Eve’s eyes the background of that training that John had, and how these assassins and ballerinas, how these people become these assassins, there are some little details that are the same, but Eve Macarro is Eve Macarro. She’s not John Wick. So, through the training process and rehearsals, we kind of built these fights and tailored them to the things that I would do best. I was really good at kicking, and also because I’m a “ballerina,” I’m supposed to be good at kicking; I was really good at close fights, like with knives and things like that. Little by little, I was trying to get to know myself in this kind of world, and then the stunt team, the professionals, were seeing, also, the best things I could do. So, we found my own style along the way.

Image via Lionsgate

Ian, in the trailer we see that Winston is the one who introduces Eve to that assassin world. Can you talk to us a little bit about the relationship between the two characters?
IAN MCSHANE: Well, I’ve met her before. Also, I knew her mother and father, as we say. I know secrets about her that she will try to find out later on. Obviously, I kept tabs on her over the years since she’s been under the ballet tutelage of the character of Anjelica Huston. But Winston, you still don’t know who he is, which is kind of nice. He’s the more enigmatic character. At the end of the movie — I’m not giving anything away — you still don’t know more about the relationship. All I can say is that he admires her. I mean, a ballerina and an assassin? That’s a lethal combination. He tries to warn her, but, of course, she ignores him completely. But it’ll be interesting. She is the Baby Yaga, John Wick is the Baba Yaga.
DE ARMAS: You have a weakness for Baby Yaga.
MCSHANE: I have a weakness for Baby Yaga. Well, after four films with Keanu, it was time. It was lovely. [Laughs]

Related

‘The Continental’ Cast and Character Guide: Who Stars in the ‘John Wick’ Spin-Off?

New and familiar faces are checking in to the infamous hotel.

For both of you, which scene or fight are you most excited for people to see?
DE ARMAS: For me, I do love the grenade fight. You see a little bit of that in the trailer, but that grenade fight is really long. The location is really cool, the way it happens and is set up is really cool, and it’s a combination of throwing a grenade, which is long distance, but it gets very intimate and nasty. It’s a lot of people in there, so I really like it.
MCSHANE: We have a long scene together where she comes to visit me at the Continental and tries to fight…
DE ARMAS: We had a fight scene that got cut from the movie.
MCSHANE: We don’t talk about that. I’m furious. They cut one of my fight scenes. But my scenes are dialogue fight scenes. We have a scene where you try to get information from me, and that’s like getting blood out of a stone, as we say, trying to get Winston to give anything away. So, in a sense, it’s a fight scene with dialogue, which you only accept after you know that I’m on your side.
Ana de Armas Shares Details on Eve’s Journey in ‘Ballerina’

“The transformation throughout the movie is really interesting.”

Image via Lionsgate

In the trailer, we discover that Eve starts at a very low point in the story.
DE ARMAS: Yes.
Without giving anything away, talk to us about the journey of the character.
DE ARMAS: Eve, as a very young girl, witnesses her father being killed by a group of people, and it’s the only family member she knows so far, so everything is taken away from her. She’s being enlisted by the Ruska Roma, so she starts this ballerina training. Then, we’ll see how that turns into fight training, and we’ll see her coming into who she will be as an adult, as an assassin. She really wants to get into this world with the hope of finding the people who did this to her dad.
And yes, the transformation throughout the movie is really interesting because it is initially about revenge and finding these people, but it has a beautiful turn. Along the way, she starts finding secrets and things about her family and her past, and it turns into something more noble about making a difference or making a change.
Ballerina opens in theaters on June 6.

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A young female assassin seeks revenge against the people who killed her family.

Director

Len Wiseman

Cast

Ana De Armas
, Keanu Reeves
, Catalina Sandino Moreno
, Anjelica Huston
, Norman Reedus
, Ian McShane
, Lance Reddick
, Gabriel Byrne
, David Castaneda
, Anne Parillaud
, Sharon Duncan-Brewster

Writers

Shay Hatten
, Derek Kolstad

Distributor(s)

Lionsgate

Franchise(s)

John Wick