Chris Evans and Ana De Armas have made a total of three movies together — Knives Out (2019), The Gray Man (2022), and Ghosted (2023). The two have developed a solid friendship, with the Blonde actress revealing that the MCU star actually got her to join their latest film.
“He was the one who invited me to this film,” she recently stated. “So, if he keeps calling me, I’ll keep accepting it!” Unfortunately, critics called their project the “worst movie of the year.” It has a mere 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“It feels like ChatGPT wrote it,” wrote The Daily Beast, “and the fact that it didn’t is all the more damning for those who did. Still, like this fan tweeted: “Ghosted is by far the worst movie I’ve ever watched lol but I still love Chris [Evans].”
Well, what’s not to love? His leading lady said he was “genuinely” likable right off the bat, hence their “chemistry onscreen.” Here’s a closer look at their friendship, as well as their shared pick for the next James Bond.
Despite the actors’ self-proclaimed chemistry onscreen, the lack of it was actually the most common complaint among the viewers. According to Rolling Stone‘s Marlow Stone (per Screen Rant), “It’s readily apparent that de Armas and Evans, charismatic and charming on their own, have next to no chemistry.”
Kevin Maher of The Times even cited the standard they failed to meet. “For better examples of sexual chemistry in similar movies see Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” he said.
Another thing, as Stone pointed out, is that “every line delivery is so stilted it’s as though they’re being read off cue cards, a la SNL.” Deep Focus Review also weighed in on the script, saying it’s “the kind of empty Hollywood product that makes you wonder whether screenwriters are already using artificial intelligence to write their scripts.” Yikes.
It didn’t help that the romantic comedy didn’t live up to its genre. Although Oscars Central’s Nicole Ackman acknowledged that it’s “a combination romantic comedy and action film,” he said that “it’s just unfortunate that it’s not particularly good at being either one.”
During the premiere of Ghosted, de Armas told The Hollywood Reporter that she and Evans hit it off the first time they worked together. “We genuinely liked each other and we’re just very easygoing people, both of us, and we’re just very transparent,” she said of their relationship.
She also noted that it’s not a high-maintenance friendship. “It’s not a relationship that you have to work hard to maintain,” she explained. “The friendship is there. It’s like chemistry onscreen, it’s there or it’s not.”
That’s exactly why she agreed to do Ghosted. “That’s why I also wanted to do this movie, because that kind of dynamic,” she continued, “we’ve never had on the screen and I wanted to enjoy that with Chris, not only in real life but also on film.”
The former Captain America echoed the sentiments, saying that they have a “reliable” connection. “Ana de Armas is an excellent friend and a dependable professional,” he said of doing his third film with the actress. “It always happens.”
In one of their joint interviews while promoting Ghosted, de Armas and Evans shared their thoughts on the next James Bond. The two have notably worked together with five-time 007, Daniel Craig on Knives Out.
When Wired asked them about their pick, Evans joked, “I’ll do it.” But for de Armas, “I think Paul Mescal should be the one.” Despite Evans being “a big Aaron Taylor-Johnson guy,” he agreed that Mescal would be “great.”
The Deep Water star previously told EW, “There’s no need for a female Bond,” adding that “there shouldn’t be any need to steal someone else’s character, you know, to take over” as “this is a novel, and it leads into this James Bond world and this fantasy of that universe where he’s at.”
However, she clarified: “What I would like is that the female roles in the Bond films, even though Bond will continue to be a man, are brought to life in a different way. That they’re given a more substantial part and recognition. That’s what I think is more interesting than flipping things.” Fair enough.
Jolie once turned down a Bond girl role as she wanted to play Bond instead. She ended up doing Salt years later, making her the “First Blockbuster Female Action Movie Star,” per Forbes, back in 2016.