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Ana de Armas is opening up about her experience on the set of the first 'John Wick' spin-off. The Cuban-Spanish actress is preparing for the highly anticipated release of 'Ballerina,' and she has a lot to say about her time filming, including some emotional moments and challenging scenes.
The actress was prepared for intense action scenes, but it seems she was not anticipating the emotional toll that some of the movie's most dangerous stunts would take on her, particularly an action scene involving a flamethrower.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the star discussed the challenging scene that made her shed some tears. In the scene, her character, Eve, who is an assassin trained by the Ruska Roma, uses a flamethrower to get revenge on the men who killed her father.
Director Len Wiseman shares that the sequence was “90 percent” practical, and the actress performed most of her own stunts, including wielding the flamethrower herself. Ana explained that the first time she practiced with the weapon, she was overwhelmed by how it worked.
“I remember the first day the stunt team was practicing with the fire, and they told me to go do it before the shoot, and I said, ‘No, no, no, I’ll be fine,’” she said. “But they insisted, and I tried it. They got the main fire guy, all covered in grease for protection, and they said, ‘Okay, go ahead. Just burn him.’ And I did, and I started crying.”
The actress and the director described the moment as incredibly intense. “It was really emotional,” she explained. “I’ve never seen anyone burning, even though it’s fake.” Thankfully, after that emotional test run, she was able to continue with the filming, ultimately shooting the scene without tears.
“Then I was fine,” she laughed, before praising the stunt team.“Then I burned like a hundred people. I’m glad I practiced the day before and cried the day before. But it’s amazing to see what [the stunt performers] do. I can’t believe you guys put yourself through this. It’s unbelievable.”
The flamethrower scene proved to be a shocking experience even for the director. “It was horrifying, actually lighting somebody on fire with a flamethrower, even though they’re acting. And it was a long sequence. It was very, very brutal," he admitted.
The pair talked about the difference of the flamethrower in comparison to the other weapons used. “It moves. It’s not a stick that, if you move your gun, it moves with you,” she explained. “It has a little delay, especially at that length."
"The fire would shoot out really far away, and it kicked back. They had to put something in my lashes, on my hair, so that it wouldn’t burn them. It was something to get used to," Ana added, adding that she is proud of the project.
“The fire scene was risky, but we did it,” she told the publication. “It was all done the right way, and everyone was super careful, and it turned out to be an amazing experience.”