Actor Ana de Armas covers the August 2022 issue of ELLE US, styled by Alex White in Louis Vuitton, The Attico, Celine by Hedi Slimane, Gabriela Hearst, Skim and more. Photographer Christian MacDonald [IG] captures the Cuban-born Armas currently playing Dani Miranda in Netflix’s CIA-inspired action thriller ‘The Gray Man’.

First and foremost, Ana de Armas is “extremely grateful to have escaped LA,” writes Marisa Meltzer. Not that the star has cut her ties to Hollywood. ‘The Gray Man’ directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and costarring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans is reportedly the biggest-budget film Netflix has brought to market..

She lives in New York now, sharing an apartment with boyfriend, Tinder exec Paul Boukadakis. Many actors before Ana de Armas have spoken about the psychologically-draining experience of living in the Los Angeles fishbowl dominated by paparazzi-tracking photographers.

The quiet, but articulate actor amps the level of intrusion around her life there. “It became a little bit too much. There’s no escape. There’s no way out.” In Los Angeles, she adds, “it’s always the feeling of something that you don’t have, something missing. It’s a city that keeps you anxious.”

[Los Angeles] “It’s a city that keeps you anxious.”

De Armas received positive reviews for her role in the Bond franchise’s ‘No Time to Die’ — where she tried to upend the expected vision of the James Bond woman. The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

It’s Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in ‘Blonde’, playing only on Netflix September 23, 2022, that will rock her into the stratosphere. From director Andrew Dominik, and based on the bestselling novel by Joyce Carol Oates, ‘Blonde’ boldly reimagines the complicated life of icon Marilyn Monroe.

Blurring the lines of fact and fiction, the film artfully explores the tension between her public and private life. AOC is well-informed on the life of Marilyn Monroe and the extent to which the paparazzi and sexism-rampant world of Hollywood refused to give an ounce of credence to Marilyn’s intellect and desire to be perceived as a thoughtful, self-educated woman.

AOC’s concept of the Smart Sensuality woman is based on Marilyn Monroe’s struggle to be both sensual and smart — and with a great, activist heart.

Time for a dive into the archives, as we have written on Marilyn several times over the years.

We note that famed American author Joyce Carol Oates, author of ‘Blonde’ is very pleased with the film, quoted in Collider: “Andrew Dominik is a very brilliant director. I think he succeeded in showing the experience of Norma Jeane Baker from her perspective, rather than see it from the outside, the male gaze looking at a woman. He immersed himself in her perspective.”