B10 The Boston Globe WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
Names
5 things to know about Ana de Armas,
the actress linked to Ben Affleck
AreBen AffleckandAna de Armasdating?
That’s the question after the Cambridge na-
tive, 47, and the Cuban-born actress, 31, took a
trip together last week to Havana, not far from
where the actress grew up. A new report in Peo-
ple magazine quoted a source saying that the
duo are “definitely dating,” and reported that
Affleck and de Armas were spotted making out
at the airport.
Affleck is obviously well-known here in Bos-
ton, but de Armas is less familiar, despite her re-
cent Golden Globe-nominated performance in
the Massachusetts-filmed “Knives Out.”
Here are a few things to know about the ac-
tress, as well as some of the evidence floating
around in gossip circles that she and Affleck are
an item.Her first major lead role was “Knives
Out,” be she’s been in other big-budget
fare as well.
De Armas was a revelation in the 2019 modern-
day whodunnit from Rian Johnson, earning a
Golden Globe nomination for her performance.
But even before then, de Armas was a rising star.
After starting her acting career in Spain at age 18,
her first American role came in the 2015 erotic
horror thriller “Knock Knock,” directed by Newton
nativeEli Roth. After 2016 appearances in the
sports biopic “Hands of Stone” (withEdgar Ramir-
ez,Robert De Niro, andUsher Raymond) and the
dark comedy “War Dogs” (withJonah Hill,Miles
Teller,andBradley Cooper), she had a break-
through role as AI hologram Joi in the 2017 sci-fi
film “Blade Runner 2049” oppositeRyan Gosling
andHarrison Ford.Affleck and de Armas recently finished
filming an “erotic thriller.”
If you’ve read about de Armas beyond
her starring role in “Knives Out,” it’s probably be-
cause of her role opposite Affleck in “Deep Water,”
an erotic thriller fromAdrian Lyne, the director of
“Fatal Attraction.” Based on a novel of the same
name byPatricia Highsmith(“Strangers on a
Train,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley”), the film stars
Affleck and de Armas as Vic and Melinda Van Al-
len, a couple stuck in a loveless marriage whose ex-tramarital dalliances and sadistic mind games lead
to dead bodies. The pair recently wrapped filming
in Louisiana, and the movie is slated to hit theaters
Nov. 13.She’s starring in the next James Bond
film as well.
In case you couldn’t get enough of see-
ing de Armas andDaniel Craigon screen together
in “Knives Out,” the actress is joining the veteran
James Bond actor in “No Time to Die,” Craig’s final
performance in the spy franchise. The film was re-
cently pushed back from a scheduled April debut
to a November release due to the coronavirus out-
break.
De Armas told the Los Angeles Times that her
role as a CIA agent named Paloma came about af-
ter directorCary Fukunagadecided to write one
for her once it was determined the movie would be
filming in Cuba. Though the nature of Paloma and
Bond’s relationship in the film has been kept un-
der wraps, de Armas said that once she read thescript, she decided she could play Fukunaga’s ver-
sion of “a Bond girl.”
“I wouldn’t say she’s ordinary, because when
she needs to perform her job, she does,” de Armas
told the Los Angeles Times. “But [she] is flawed.
She says what she feels, she’s nervous, she’s scared.
It’s human. When I read it, I was like, ‘Oh, wait — I
can be a Bond girl. I’m that. I’m that messy.' ”Until she moved to Hollywood in 2014,
she didn’t speak English.
TheactresswasborninCubaand
moved to Spain when she was 18, so when she
took a leap and moved to the US to further her ca-
reer, she had to learn English. In a 2016 interview,
de Armas told AOL that the script for “War Dogs”
didn’t initially call for an accented performance,
but was retooled once she landed the part.
“The part was not reading as a Cuban woman
or even from Miami, so I felt very flattered that the
studio was open to having an actress with an ac-
cent, which is sometimes a little bit of a struggle in
Hollywood,” de Armas said. “I don’t know if you
know, when I moved to LA two years ago, I didn’t
speak English at all, so forgive me if I make a mis-
take or say something weird.”
Affleck, it should be noted, recently conducted
several interviews in Spanish for his new film “The
Way Back,” and said on “TheKelly ClarksonShow”
that he’s trying to improve his Spanish so that his
daughterVioletdoesn’t surpass him.
“She’s always been a very good student, and
she’s been interested in Spanish, and so I would of-
ten help her,” Affleck said. “Now, all of a sudden,
she’s gotten into the grade where she’s, like, in the
harder Spanish classes and she’s getting better.”Like Affleck, she’s been married before,
but she says she “prefers to be alone.”
Before coming to Hollywood, de Ar-
mas was married toMarc Clotet, a model and fel-
low actor in Spain. The duo ended their relation-
ship in 2013, with de Armas moving to Los Ange-
les shortly thereafter.
Despite rumors linking her to Affleck, de Armas
has downplayed questions about her dating life in
recent interviews. In a cover story for Vanity Fair’s
March 2020 issue, de Armas tersely summed up
her dating life in Hollywood, saying, “I’ve had
company here, but it’s been the wrong company so
I prefer to be alone.”
KEVIN SLANE, Boston.comStephen Colbertno longer has a
wicked bad Boston accent, thanks to
John Krasinski.
When the Newton native visited
“The Late Show” Monday night to pro-
mote “A Quiet Place Part II,” he tried
to teach Colbert how to do a proper
Boston accent, starting with the big-
gest mistake people make when at-
tempting one.
“Stay casual. Because people, when
they do a Boston accent, they’re like,
‘Hahvahd yahd
cah pahk!’ ” Kra-
sinski said. “And
you’re like, ‘OK,
now do it with 20
percent the ener-
gy.’ ”
Colbert tried
out a few classic
movie quotes
with a Boston ac-
cent, with vary-
ing success. Colbert made passable at-
tempts at the “fava beans” line from
“The Silence of the Lambs” and the
“box of chocolates” line from “Forrest
Gump.” But his first attempt at “May
the force be with you” from “Star
Wars” with a Boston accent was “terri-
ble,” by Krasinski’s estimation.
“Almost likeBob Fosse, but not to-
tally,” Krasinski said, as a way of help-
ing Colbert out. “May the force be with
you.”
The South Carolina-born Colbert
then flipped the tables on Krasinski,
forcing him to try the “Star Wars”
catch phrase with a Southern accent,
with Krasinski faring no better.
According to Krasinski, he strug-
gles with just about every accent, in-
cluding a British one, despite being
married to London-born actressEmily
Blunt.
“She tells me every day how bad my
accent is,” Krasinski said. “She’s gotten
my kids against me, too. I’ll be like,
‘HeycanIhavesome water,’andmy
kids are like, ‘pfffft.’ I thought I was
pretty good, and I was proud of it, and
now I’m totally self-conscious.”
KEVIN SLANE, Boston.com
“The Good Place” creatorMichael
Schurwould like to help you manage
your life even as he figures out how to
put it into words.
Simon & Schuster
announced Tuesday
that the Emmy-
winningwriter,
producer, and ac-
tor is working on
“How to Be Good: A
Definitive Answer for
Exactly What to Do, In Every Possible
Situation,” in which he combines hu-
mor and philosophy to “deal with the
large and small ethical challenges we
all face every day.”
The book is scheduled for fall 2021.
Besides “The Good Place,” Schur al-
so helped create “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
and “Parks & Recreation" and was a
writer and producer for “The Office.”
In a statement Tuesday, Schur con-
fessed: “I have no idea how to write a
book,” but his editor,Eamon Dolan,
said it “wouldn’t be a problem.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Members of the Grammy-winning
string band Old Crow Medicine Show
put down their fiddles and banjos and
picked up chainsaws last week after
deadly tornadoes hit middle Tennes-
see.
“When I am doing this relief work
in north Nashville and east Nashville
and Donelson, the guys in Old Crow
got their chainsaws out,” said singer
Ketch SecorMonday night, nearly a
week after the severe storms. “We love
our concerts and our audience, but
when this happens in our town, we’re
out there leading the charge.”
Nashville musicians banded to-
gether both in their community, but
also on stage during a benefit concert
Monday night called “To Nashville,
With Love” featuring a dozen artists
playing to raise money for relief ef-
forts. Some of the musicians who per-
formed don't live in Tennessee full-
time, but record there and have close
connections.
British singer-songwriterYolagot
to work immediately, helping organize
the concert in less than a week. Per-
formers included Old Crow Medicine
Show,Sheryl Crow,Dan Auerbach,Ja-
son Isbell,Soccer Mommy, Brothers
Osborne andAshley McBryde.The
proceeds from Monday’s concert were
going to the Community Foundation
of Middle Tennessee. At least six tor-
nadoes hit the state and killed 24 peo-
ple.
“That tornado whipped out a lot of
precious things, a lot of mementos, a
lot of things that signify a family life or
a loved one,” said Yola backstage. “You
need to put that love back in.”
Many in the town’s musical com-
munity were impacted. Country star
Dierks Bentleyand his crew showed
up in gloves and boots to help his
drummer,Steve Misamore, whose
home was severely damaged. Dual-
tone Records’ Nashville office was di-
rectly hit, as well as a popular clubcalled The Basement East.
Mike GrimesandDave Brown, co-
owners of The Basement East, said
staff members were finishing their
shifts early Tuesday morning after a
Bernie Sandersfund-raising concert
when one person stepped outside and
saw a funnel cloud approaching. Thestaff grabbed three pedestrians off the
street and huddled in the basement as
the tornado tore down the venue’s cin-
derblock walls and ripped off the roof.
No one was hurt at The Basement
East, but two people were killed as
they were leaving a neighboring bar.
Left standing among the rubblewas one piece of wall that featured a
mural that declared “I Believe in Nash-
ville.” It was a slogan that became pop-
ular in Nashville after the devastating
2010 flooding that hit the city.
Just as the town’s artists donated
their time and money to help others
after the flood in 2010, already many
donations are pouring in.Taylor Swift
announced a $1 million donation for
tornado relief efforts and country duo
Dan + Shay donated $100,000.
Grammy-winning singerBrandi
Carlilelives in Washington state, but
has been spending a lot of time in
Nashville in recent years because of
her work with the country supergroup
The Highwomen as well as producing
Tanya Tucker’s latest Grammy-win-
ning album. Carlile said backstage
that the volunteer response in Tennes-
see has been overwhelming.
“I’ve got friends that are going into
people’s houses that are just complete-
ly destroyed without a roof and put-
ting a tarp over people’s clothes and
folding their things so that when they
come home, some of their memories
are intact,” said Carlile.
ASSOCIATED PRESSWicked good:
Krasinski
taught Colbert
a Boston accent
Nashville artists help out
on stage and off after tornadoes
John Krasinski
Michael Schur’s
‘How to Be Good’
coming out in 2021
AMY HARRIS/INVISION/AP
Sheryl Crow (left) and Brandi Carlile performed at the “To Nashville,
With Love” benefit concert in Nashville Monday.CLAIRE FOLGER/LIONSGATE VIA APVALERIE MACON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGESAna de Armas appeared at the Golden Globe
Awards in January (top) after receiving a
nomination for her performance in “Knives
Out” (above).