A lot of people, if they met Keanu Reeves in person, would probably have some amount of difficulty actually talking to him. He is the internet’s boyfriend, after all. He’s become a nearly mythic figure in Hollywood. Ana de Armas is a pretty big star herself, but there was a time when she wasn’t, and she apparently embarrassed herself in front of the actor when they first met.
Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas will share the screen later this year when the John Wick spinoff Ballerina arrives in theaters, but it will actually be the second time the two have been in a movie together. Ten years ago, they co-starred in the thriller Knock Knock. On stage receiving the CinemaCon award for Action Star of the Year (via THR), de Armas revealed that she was afraid to speak to Keanu when they had dinner together because her English wasn’t very good. She said…
I met him when I barely spoke English when I moved to L.A. 10 years ago. I met Keanu for the first time in Santiago de Chile at lunch with the filmmakers of Knock Knock, our first movie together. We were sitting across from each other on the table, and I was really nervous as you are when you’re in front of Keanu Reeves. I couldn’t talk to him much because I was so self-conscious about my English and I was really struggling and really trying hard to follow the conversation.
De Armas may have been trying to avoid embrassassing herself with what she felt were her poor English skills, but it seems she did not avoid that. The topic of Reeves' biggest movie to date, The Matrix, came up, and the star asked de Armas if she had seen the film.
Unfortunately, she didn’t quite understand the question. She continued…
He looked at me and asked me if I had seen it. And I was like, ‘The Matrix? No.’ Everyone at the table was shocked, so someone came to me and told me in Spanish. ‘You haven’t seen La Matrix? I was, like, oh La Matrix. Yeah, I have seen that one. That will never not be embarrassing.
Things have come a long way. Reeves also discussed John Wick at the dinner, a movie that he had just completed. Nobody could have guessed that John Wick would become a franchise and that it would spawn spinoffs that would bring the two actors back together.
Keanu Reeves will reprise his role as John Wick in Ballerina. It's also been confirmed that John Wick 5 is in development. Perhaps Ana de Armas will return the favor and appear in that one.
Ana de Armas might be a bit embarrassed by the story, but apparently not enough to avoid telling it in front of a lot of Hollywood elites and media. Honestly, it’s a pretty endearing tale, as most of us would probably embarrass ourselves in front of Keanu Reeves. Plus, today, Ana de Armas is a major star in her own right, somebody a lot of people would probably be too nervous to talk to if they had the chance.