Ana de Armas was worried her role in No Time to Die would “ruin” her acting career.
The Cuban beauty will play the mysterious Paloma in the upcoming James Bond movie and though she was excited to land the role, she had reservations because she’s always found the female characters in the movies “unrelatable”.
She said: “Obviously I was jumping all over the place and very excited.
“But I needed to be sure it wouldn’t jeopardise all the work I’d been putting in, that it wouldn’t ruin everything. And the Bond women have always been, for me at least, unrelatable.”
But Ana, 31, is thrilled with the fact that her character feels like a “real woman” thanks to writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
She added to America’s Vanity Fair magazine: “My character feels like a real woman. But you know, we can evolve and grow and incorporate reality, but Bond is a fantasy.
“In the end you can’t take things out of where they live.”
Even Daniel Craig - who will play 007 for the last time in the movie - admitted he hates the idea of “Bond girls”.
Actor: Daniel Craig. Picture: ANDREW KELLY/REUTERS
He said: “I don’t even call them Bond girls. I’m not going to deny it to anybody else. It’s just I can’t have a sensible conversation with somebody if we’re talking about ‘Bond girls’.
The 51-year-old actor feels “so lucky” to have worked with Ana on both No Time to Die and Knives Out and was particularly impressed with how well she handled her role.
He said: “I should always be so lucky to work with a woman like that. This is a movie where there’s a lot of s*** going on, a lot of big acting, myself very much included, but she shines through because she’s the real deal.
“She’s got very good comic timing and we’re not offering her a huge part. But she came in and just nailed it.
No Time To Die hits local cinemas on 3 April.