Ana de Armas is one of the most popular actors working today, but her new movie is a bad move after No Time To Die. She was a major highlight inDaniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond, and her two upcoming films are eagerly anticipated. However, the long-delayed Deep Water has put a damper on her rising stardom.
Receiving her breakthrough role in Blade Runner 2049 and earning rave reviews for her lead performance in Knives Out, Ana de Armas quickly proved she would become a huge star. Her supporting turn in No Time To Die was disappointingly short; however, it left many viewers wanting to see more of CIA agent Paloma. Adept at action sequences and, refreshingly, not a love interest for Bond, Ana de Armas would excel in a Paloma spinoff.
Despite being underused, de Armas still left an impression in one of 2021’s biggest blockbusters. This helped give momentum to her high-profile roles in 2022’s The Gray Man and Blonde. Conversely, Deep Water is hardly what she needed between projects. Despite its intriguing premise and the strong talent involved, the poor reviews for Ana de Armas’ new movie undermine her flourishing career and risk affecting her most important role to date.
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, director Adrian Lyne’s first movie in 20 years, Deep Water, appeared to have a lot going for it. Lyne is best known for his erotic thrillers and casting de Armas opposite Ben Affleck in a story of seduction and murder could have led to an exciting psychological mystery. However, speculation arose when Disney pulled No Time To Die actor Ana de Armas’ new movie from its theatrical release schedule, before relegating Deep Water to Hulu (and Amazon's Prime Video for the international audience) with little fanfare. Deep Water became notorious for its numerous delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of marketing, and de Armas and Affleck’s real-life breakup. All of which serve to overshadow de Armas’ work in the project and break the momentum she earned with her charismatic turn in No Time To Die. It’s not the strong follow-up most actors would want after such a successful blockbuster, with plenty of signals Disney had little faith in the less-than-erotic thriller. It's clear why Disney chose to bury Deep Water, with reviews citing the surprising lack of chemistry between its leads.
Predictably, reactions to the film are preoccupied with Affleck and de Armas’ ill-timed split undermining their onscreen dynamic. Of course, Ana de Armas’ upcoming movies could ensure Deep Water quickly fades from memory. Action film The Gray Man will see her return to familiar territory alongside Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. Hopefully, de Armas can build on her exciting work in No Time To Die, and The Gray Man's casting suggests it will perform well for Netflix. More importantly, however, is her starring role in Blonde, Andrew Dominik’s biopic of Marilyn Monroe. There is formidable pressure to depict a Hollywood icon with grace and respect, and much of the attention will be on whether de Armas can fully inhabit Monroe’s persona. Blonde could be one of 2022’s best movies, but it would of course benefit from de Armas’ strong career momentum prior to release. This has been hampered by Deep Water and its quiet debut on Hulu.
Ana de Armas’ star power will likely attract viewers to the controversial Marilyn Monroe biopic regardless, but her career is still very much on the rise. Deep Water isn’t her first poorly received movie, nor her worst, and she’s won plenty of goodwill from her fantastic work in major films like No Time To Die. However, an actor's promising track record can certainly boost their upcoming movies, and de Armas would be wise to avoid another critical flop tarnishing her burgeoning career.
