Ana de Armas & Ian McShane visit WIRED to offer up answers to their most searched for questions on Google. Does the star of “Ballerina” actually know ballet? Will Ana de Armas be in John Wick 5? What accent does Ana de Armas speak English with? What was Ian McShane’s first role? What does he do for fun? Answers to these questions and plenty more await on the WIRED Autocomplete Interview of Ana de Armas and Ian McShane.
Ballerina releases June 6
Director: Justin Wolfson
Director of Photography: Brad Wickham
Editor: Alex Mechanik
Talent: Ana de Armas; Ian McShane
Line Producer: Jamie Rasmussen
Associate Producer: Brandon White
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Talent Booker: Lauren Mendoza
Camera Operator: Chloe Ramos
Gaffer: Salif Soumahoro
Sound Mixer: Sean Paulsen
Production Assistant: Shanti Cuizon-Burden; Lyla Neely
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Ballerina releases June 6
Director: Justin Wolfson
Director of Photography: Brad Wickham
Editor: Alex Mechanik
Talent: Ana de Armas; Ian McShane
Line Producer: Jamie Rasmussen
Associate Producer: Brandon White
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Talent Booker: Lauren Mendoza
Camera Operator: Chloe Ramos
Gaffer: Salif Soumahoro
Sound Mixer: Sean Paulsen
Production Assistant: Shanti Cuizon-Burden; Lyla Neely
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Category
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TechTranscript
00:00Hi, I'm Ian McShane.
00:02And I'm Ana de Armas, and this is The Wire Autocomplete Interview.
00:10Here we go.
00:14When was Ana de Armas on SNL?
00:17I was on SNL like about two years ago, I would say,
00:21when my movie Blonde was coming out.
00:24And it was really fun and very special.
00:26I never saw it, I had to see it.
00:28Have they ever asked me? Bastards.
00:30I mean, I think everything was really hilarious,
00:32but there was one with the two girls that are rapping.
00:38That was a good one.
00:40Who is Ana de Armas in Blade Runner 2049?
00:47Wow, my character in Blade Runner was Joy,
00:50and she was a hologram, a woman from the future.
00:55A beautiful character that, you know, despite being a not real person,
01:03she did have very much real feelings, and she was very much in love
01:07with Ryan Gosling's character, Kay.
01:11Can Ana de Armas sing?
01:14I say no. Other people say yes. I've done it.
01:17Yeah. I've regretted it.
01:19Yeah.
01:21It's just, yeah, just mistakes that you do.
01:25As they say, dance like nobody's watching, sing like nobody's listening.
01:29Right, I would.
01:30Absolutely, anyway, I'm enjoying it.
01:32Okay.
01:33Do you sing?
01:34Me?
01:35Yeah.
01:36Oh, yeah, I did a musical.
01:38Witches of Eastwick in London.
01:40Huh.
01:41And I have a gold record.
01:42When I did a, you know, back in the 90s,
01:44when I made an album for my wife.
01:47It's called Both Sides Now, in case you're interested,
01:49you can get it on Amazon.
01:50Oh, my God.
01:51What?
01:52What?
01:53Will Ana de Armas be in John Wick 5?
01:57Will there be a John Wick 5?
02:00I, well, if there is one, I would love to.
02:03Absolutely.
02:04That would be so much fun.
02:05That would be really cool.
02:07Oh, I'm holding this.
02:08What was Ian McShane's first film?
02:12The Wild and the Willing.
02:141962, straight out of the drama school with the great Paul Rogers.
02:19My God, 63 years ago.
02:21Yeah.
02:22I was a little bit years old.
02:24No, and my best friend Johnny Hurt was in the movie already,
02:27and I was still at drama school.
02:28They couldn't find a guy to play the lead of this aggressive,
02:31young, angry university student.
02:33I wonder why they cast me, you know?
02:35I don't know.
02:36I have no idea.
02:37But anyway, it was a lot of fun.
02:38Put me on our way.
02:39Here we go.
02:40What is Ian McShane's latest film?
02:44My latest film is Ballerina with Miss Ana de Armas.
02:49Thank you very much indeed.
02:50Looking forward to seeing it.
02:51It was lovely to be acting with Ana.
02:53I mean, part of the thing is we know each other now,
02:55but at that time we bet on a cold, what was it,
02:57a freezing cold 11 o'clock night in Prague, right?
03:00Yep.
03:01You'd been beating the shit out of people for days and days,
03:03and suddenly we had this eight-page dialogue scene, remember?
03:06Yes, yes.
03:07It was lovely.
03:08Was that the one at the library?
03:09That was the one at the library, yeah.
03:10We showed up this beautiful building.
03:13The coldest place.
03:14It was a gorgeous library.
03:15It was really cold outside.
03:16We were below zero.
03:18But you have no idea how cold it was inside.
03:21Oh, no.
03:22It was.
03:23It was one of those places.
03:24It was some kind of, I don't know, museum.
03:25Yes.
03:26It was about 20 miles outside of Prague, wasn't it?
03:27Yes.
03:28All those books were like real antique books, so they couldn't use any heat or anything
03:33just because they would damage the books.
03:35So we were doing the scene and just like the...
03:38The steam was coming out.
03:40The steam was coming out.
03:41I was like, this is not going to work, guys.
03:43We need to hit it up.
03:44The two coolest people in the world.
03:45Yes.
03:46As usual, filming.
03:48What does Ian McShane do for fun?
03:51Well, I live on the beach.
03:52So I go upstairs, have a jacuzzi, listen to some music, read a book,
03:57go out, look at the ocean, call my grandkids, whatever, eight hours ahead.
04:01That's a good life.
04:02It's not bad.
04:03Yeah, it's pretty good.
04:04Yeah, it's pretty good.
04:05Yes, I would say so.
04:06And then I spend six months of time in England seeing the kids and the grandkids.
04:09So I'm very fortunate to live in both places and have a good...
04:12Like you.
04:13You live where you live now, Madrid, right?
04:15No.
04:16I mean, I do spend time in Madrid, but no, I live in the countryside.
04:20Ana de Armas as Paloma.
04:23I love Paloma.
04:24Yeah.
04:25It was very short, but it was unbelievably fun.
04:29And I loved working with Daniel again and with just everyone, Lashana and the entire crew.
04:35It was wonderful.
04:36I wish we had more of her.
04:38That's a great character.
04:39Yeah.
04:40That was a great character.
04:41It was just like how easygoing she was and how bubbly and fresh and just, you know,
04:49her energy was awesome.
04:51Does Ana de Armas do ballet?
04:55Oh, no, I wish.
04:56Actually, when I was young, I wanted to do ballet, but I didn't get to do anything.
05:01I mean, I did it just for fun.
05:02I mean, I did it just for fun.
05:03Yeah, it's big.
05:04It's big.
05:05We have such incredible school and ballet company and dancers.
05:11Everyone is, they're all so talented and so beautiful.
05:14Yeah.
05:15Yeah.
05:16I wish I had done it, but that wasn't.
05:17Looked great in the tutu.
05:18That didn't go well for me.
05:19Ana de Armas.
05:22Gun training.
05:23Gun training was, you know, it was tough.
05:26It's just hard to get to the point of feeling like so comfortable and confident with the guns.
05:31And Eve in the movie uses a lot of different weapons, not only her own, but like all the ones that she's getting from the bad guys.
05:38So I had to practice with all of them and I had to get really good at transitioning from one gun to the other and like just ensemble them, disassemble them.
05:49Like, you know, it was really cool.
05:51My hands were hurting.
05:52I had blisters at the beginning when I wasn't.
05:54They're heavy.
05:55For me, they're heavy.
05:56They're heavy.
05:57You get a rifle and it's like, I can't even lift it up.
06:00And the flamethrower was heavy.
06:02The crazy thing in this movie is that I use like traditional weapons and then any other crazy thing around me, I turn it into a weapon.
06:09Ice skates, pencils, a hammer, a grenade.
06:13I love the ice skates.
06:14Yes.
06:15Yes.
06:16Boom.
06:17Where does Ian McShane live now?
06:20In my head.
06:23No, I live in Venice Beach, California, and in Maryland, London.
06:27So I spend time between both of them because most of my kids, grandkids live in England and my wife's American.
06:34So we live in Venice.
06:35Was Ian McShane a footballer?
06:38No, my dad was.
06:39My dad played for Manchester United in the 50s.
06:42I mean, Ferguson's one of my best friends.
06:45So I mean, I've been a supporter of them for like, oh my God.
06:48They're coming on 70 years.
06:50So seeing the trouble through the club through its highs and lows.
06:53At the moment, we're going to a low, but there is one high point.
06:56We have a cup final next week.
06:58So go United.
06:59Yeah.
07:00But I love the game.
07:01I love the game.
07:02But my favorite team, Manchester United, Barcelona.
07:05You like the Barca.
07:06Oh, Barca.
07:07Oh, you've got to like Barca, the way they play.
07:09Barca's good.
07:10Ian McShane, Blackbeard.
07:12Ian McShane, Blackbeard.
07:13What is that?
07:14Oh, yeah.
07:15With Johnny Depp.
07:16I played Blackbeard.
07:17Yeah, exactly.
07:18I was like, what?
07:19All I remember is the Blackbeard, which looked like I had a cat slung around my place.
07:24It was so big.
07:25Because my hair was down here anyway.
07:26Then they put this beard in and they attached it.
07:28It looked like I had a permanent, like, it was just hair everywhere.
07:32Whatever.
07:33Every day.
07:34Three hours of putting on this beard, whatever, and attaching it.
07:37Oh, my gosh.
07:38And then they had sparklers in it.
07:40So they went off at times.
07:41It lit up.
07:42Wow.
07:43Lit up and it went on smoke on fire.
07:44I'm sure you missed it when the shoot was over.
07:46I bet terribly missed it.
07:47It's like, oh, I love prosthetics.
07:49I love putting all that crap on.
07:51Yeah, you can't get rid of it.
07:52Who is Ian McShane in Game of Thrones?
07:54Oh, I played Ray.
07:56The only peace lover.
07:58Oh, yeah.
07:59It was funny because they asked me.
08:00They said, do you want to be in Game of Thrones?
08:01I said, no.
08:02Serious?
08:03No.
08:05They said, it's a great, it's a peace love in one episode.
08:09I said, perfect.
08:10Because my grandkids would never forgive me if I hadn't done it because they watched it religiously.
08:14Of course.
08:15So they might forget.
08:16The funny thing was going to Ireland and doing it in Northern Ireland Belfast.
08:19And the hotel first.
08:20I remember checking in the hotel and they had a sign on it.
08:22The most bombed hotel in Europe.
08:24Oh.
08:25Oh, yeah.
08:26The Europa.
08:27Will Ian McShane be in John Wick 5?
08:29If she's in it, I'm in it.
08:31Who the hell knows?
08:32I know that every time when they do a new...
08:34There is no John Wick without you.
08:36Oh, that's a lovely thing you would say.
08:38Winston in every movie.
08:40Well, give me...
08:41I am the Wick Whisperer.
08:42That's what Winston is.
08:43There you go.
08:44I guess why I survived all the episodes.
08:45You know what I mean?
08:46Yes.
08:47And the only sad thing is we'll miss the lads.
08:50What is Ana de Armas' accent?
08:53My accent.
08:54My accent is a little crazy.
08:56Depends on when I am and who I'm talking to.
08:59If I go to Cuba, as soon as I...
09:02It's very funny.
09:03As soon as that plane lands and I get out of the plane, I am fully Cuban.
09:08It's like...
09:09You're home again.
09:10It's crazy how my accent just changes immediately.
09:13Yeah.
09:14And sometimes also on the phone when I'm talking to my friends over there.
09:17I just go fully Cuban.
09:18But if I'm talking to my friends in Spain, in Madrid, where I'm in Madrid, I somehow get
09:25not fully, like, Castilian accent, but, like, pretty close.
09:29It's just my ear goes there.
09:31Who is Ana de Armas'...
09:34No, sorry.
09:35What is Ana de Armas' next movie?
09:37I can't talk about it.
09:39But I am working on a few things.
09:41I'm definitely training, doing some crazy stuff, and it's a lot of fun.
09:47And...
09:49We'll know more soon.
09:50Okay.
09:51Ballerina's the next movie out.
09:53I mean, that's it.
09:54What was Ana de Armas' breakout role?
09:57Breakout role?
09:58Is that...
09:59Well, it kind of like...
10:00What made them aware of you as an international?
10:06It's one of those questions, you know?
10:07I mean, I would say, even though for me it was Blade Runner, I don't think people consider
10:13Blade Runner my...
10:14I don't think that many people saw it or noticed me in it.
10:19But I would say Knives Out.
10:21I think Knives Out was my breakout role.
10:24Yeah?
10:25Yeah.
10:26With that amazing cast, I know, you know, that the movie was so loved and well received
10:30by people and the character was, you know, was so good.
10:35People really, really liked her.
10:36Yeah.
10:37What is Ana de Armas' eye color?
10:39What do you think?
10:40Yeah.
10:41Green?
10:42Yellow?
10:43It's a bit like...
10:44On my mind, blue-gray.
10:45Yours are kind of like...
10:46Yeah.
10:47Blue-gray, gray mixture of everything.
10:49Yeah.
10:50Yeah, I would say like green-yellow.
10:52Green-yellow.
10:53Yeah.
10:54Yeah, now I can see the light.
10:55Yeah, green-yellow.
10:56Final board.
10:57Sorry.
10:58That's one of your fight scenes there.
11:01Yes.
11:02Using the board, yeah, as a weapon.
11:03Yes.
11:04Okay.
11:05Ian McShane, best roles.
11:08Best role?
11:09Roles.
11:10I think maybe Al Swearingen in Deadwood.
11:13I love Winston.
11:15I mean, I got...
11:16I say that...
11:17I mean, there's a few.
11:18I mean, I've got Disraeli.
11:20I did...
11:21I mean, I...
11:22Jesus.
11:23Judas in Jesus of Nazareth with Zeffirelli.
11:25I did my own show.
11:27Lovejoy.
11:28I mean, you've got...
11:29Over the years, people, you know, your own serious people.
11:31But my...
11:32Do you even remember all your movies?
11:34That's...
11:35Do you know something?
11:36That's how I remember how old I am and where you go through.
11:39No, by films you've done.
11:40Yes.
11:41That's how it's a good memory.
11:42You think when you...
11:43You relate to stuff where you were and whatever.
11:45I mean, by movies you've done.
11:46I don't know.
11:47I've done about...
11:48I mean, about 80, 90 movies.
11:49Yes, yes.
11:50Absolutely.
11:51God knows how many.
11:52Yeah, that's how you relate.
11:53Many times in life knowing what I was shooting that year.
11:55Yeah, exactly.
11:56All you shooting and where you were.
11:57Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:58You relate back to that and it brings everything else back.
11:59Yeah.
12:00Because that's our life.
12:01That's what we do.
12:02Yeah.
12:03That's what your life is.
12:04That's what you do.
12:05Yeah.
12:06I swear on Ginny Deadwood.
12:07Yeah.
12:08Which have probably sort of, you know...
12:09It was a...
12:10She was a breakout role in America.
12:11I don't know what they call it.
12:12But it's nice.
12:13But this...
12:14Winston I love.
12:15I hope we keep doing it forever.
12:17Okay.
12:18Okay.
12:19Ian McShane from both sides now.
12:20That's the album I made.
12:22In England.
12:23There's a record I was talking about.
12:24I really need to listen to that.
12:25I do...
12:26I used to do a series of my own show which I actually produced and did in England called
12:29Lovejoy about an antique stealer.
12:31A rogue antique stealer.
12:32And my wife in 92 and she was going through something and I dedicated an album.
12:38They said, do you want to make a record?
12:39So I made this record.
12:40Dedicated to my life.
12:41Wow.
12:42So it's a few...
12:43There's a few dodgy songs on it.
12:44A few good ones.
12:45Ian McShane.
12:46Mr. Wednesday.
12:48Ah.
12:49American Gods.
12:50A show that should have been great but wasn't.
12:53No, it's good.
12:54It could have been great but it went through too many changes and they screwed it around
12:57too much.
12:58But it was a really interesting book.
13:00It should have been a blueprint.
13:01It could have gone.
13:02We did three seasons.
13:03But it got...
13:04And it was...
13:05And it started COVID and it fell away.
13:07But it was...
13:08The character was great.
13:09Okay.
13:10Ian McShane.
13:11Villain.
13:12Well, my favorite...
13:13Yeah.
13:14My favorite is Sexy Beast.
13:15There's a movie.
13:16You seen that?
13:17No.
13:18We'll see.
13:19It's a great movie by Jonathan Glazer.
13:20His second...
13:21His first movie.
13:22We made it in 1998.
13:23Ray Winston, Ben Kingsley and me.
13:24Ray Winston plays a gangster.
13:26Ben Kingsley plays a crazy gangster.
13:28But I play the real gangster.
13:30If you like the real bad guy.
13:32But it's a terrific movie about a high...
13:35It's not about a high...
13:36It's basically like all terrific movies.
13:38It's a gangster movie but it's about a love story between Ray and his wife.
13:42It's a great...
13:43But it's a really...
13:44And Jonathan's a terrific director.
13:45Yeah.
13:46And villain...
13:47And then Alice Weirngen.
13:48But villains became...
13:49You know, villains suddenly in the 2000s, the aughts became...
13:52Well, no.
13:53They didn't become villains.
13:54They then became sort of complicated characters, we call them.
13:57Yeah?
13:58Interesting characters.
13:59More than one side of them.
14:00Not like the old days when you wore a white hat or you wore a black hat.
14:03Now you wear a grey hat.
14:04You know, it's in between a lot.
14:05Yeah.
14:06So villains have the...
14:07As somebody once said, the devil has the best tunes.
14:10Yeah, that was fun, wasn't it?
14:11Yes.
14:12There were some good questions there.
14:13We went through all the boards.
14:14That's it for now.
14:15I know more about you than when we started.
14:16Yes.
14:17And you know a little more about me.
14:18But there we go.
14:19Yes.
14:20I loved it.
14:21It was fun.
14:22Thank you very much.
14:23See you next time, guys.