During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Golden Globe nominee Ana de Armas has finally opened up about her leading role in Lionsgate’s forthcoming John Wick spin-off Ballerina. Armas shared the challenging experience of filming the action thriller in Prague for four months, revealing that she has body aches from all the stunts that she’s been doing.
“We’ve been in Prague filming for four months,” de Armas said. “We still have one more month to go. And I’m in pain. You know, my body, my back, everything hurts. I’m complaining, I’m sore, I’m bruised. Bond was fifteen minutes. This is a whole movie, another level.”
In addition, The Gray Man star also went to tease her fight sequences with franchise star Keanu Reeves, praising the John Wick star for his professionalism and dedication, which helped her pushed through with their difficult and crazy stunts.
She continued, “Keanu and I were rehearsing our very difficult stunt scene, and this man is just rolling and throwing me and doing crazy stunts. And I’m like — I can’t complain anymore. Because he is doing it! He truly is the best.”
The project was first announced in 2019, following the theatrical debut of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, which gave us our first look at the Ballerina assassins who are trained by the Ruska Roma syndicate, led by Anjelica Huston’s character. Joining de Armas and Reeves are franchise alums Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, and Lance Reddick, who are also expected to reprise their respective roles.
Ballerina focuses on a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family. It will be directed by Len Wiseman from a screenplay written by Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead). The movie will be overseen by James Myers for Lionsgate. The spin-off is produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Keanu Reeves, and Chad Stahelski.
Lionsgate is currently in post-production for John Wick: Chapter 4, which is slated to hit the theaters on March 24, 2023. The studio is also working on the prequel series The Continental, which will be debuting on Peacock as a limited series.
