Ana de Armas & Ian McShane Answer The Web's Most Searched Questions

Hi, I'm Ian McShane.

And I'm Ana de Armas.

And this is the Wired Autocomplete Interview.

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Here we go. [chuckles] Aha. Here we go.

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When was Ana de Armas on SNL?

I was on SNL like about two years ago, I would say,

when my movie Blonde was coming out,

and it was really fun and very special.

I never saw it, I have to see it.

We'll cover that, if they ever ask me. Bastards.

I mean, I think everything was really hilarious,

but there was one with the two girls

that are like rapping, [laughing]

that was a good one.

Who is Ana de Armas in Blade Runner 2049?

Wow, my character in Blade Runner was Joy,

and she was a hologram, a woman from the future,

a beautiful character that, you know, despite being

not real, a person, she did have very much real feelings

and she was very much in love

with Ryan Gosling's character, K.

Can Ana de Armas sing?

I say no. Other people say yes.

I've done it. Yeah.

I've regretted it. [pair laughs]

It's just, yeah, just mistakes that you do. [laughs]

As they say, Dance like nobody's watching,

sing like nobody's listening.

Right, I would. Absolutely.

Anyway, I'm going to enjoy it, yeah, okay.

Do you sing?

Me? Yeah.

All the time, never stop. Oh yeah?

Oh yeah, I make dinner musical,

which is a [indistinct], in London,

and I have a gold record, when I did a, you know,

back in the 90s, when I made an album for my wife.

Thank you, it's called Both Sides Now,

in case you [indistinct], you can get it on Amazon.

Oh my God. What? [pair laughs]

Will Anna de Armas be in John Wick 5?

Oh.

Will there be a John Wick 5?

Well, if there is one, I would love to.

Absolutely- That would be so much fun.

That would be really cool.

Oh, I'm holding this.

What was Ian McShane's first film?

The Wild and the Willing, 1962,

I was straight out of drama school,

with the great Paul Rogers.

My god, 63 years ago, yeah.

I was [indistinct] years old. [Ana laughs]

No, and my best friend Johnny Hurt was in the movie already

and I was still at drama school

and they couldn't find a guy to play the leader,

this aggressive, young, angry university student.

I wonder why they cast me, you know?

I don't know.

Well, I have no idea, but anyway, it was a lot of fun.

Put me on our way. Here we go.

What is Ian McShane's latest film?

My latest film is Ballerina with Miss Anna de Armas.

Thank you very much indeed. Looking forward to seeing it.

It was lovely to be acting with Ana.

I mean, funny thing is, we know each other now,

but at that time, we met on a cold,

what was a freezing cold 11:00 night in Prague, right?

Yep.

You'd been beating the shit outta people for days and days

and suddenly I had this eight page dialogue thing.

Remember? Yes. Yes.

Oh, it was lovely.

Was that the one at the library?

That was the one at the library, yeah.

We showed up at this beautiful building,

it was a gorgeous library.

It was really cold outside, we were below zero,

but you have no idea how cold it was inside. [laughs]

Oh, no, it was, it was one of those places,

but it was some kind of, I don't know, museum.

It was about 20 miles outside of Prague, wasn't it?

Yeah, so all those books were like real antique books,

so they couldn't use any, you know, heat or anything,

just 'cause they would damage the books.

[laughs] So we were doing the scene, and just like the- [laughs]

The steam was coming out- The steam was coming out.

It was like, this is not gonna work guys,

we need to get it out.

Pretending to be the two coolest people in the world.

Yes, [laughs] yes. As usual, filming.

[Ana] What does Ian McShane do for fun?

Well, I live on the beach, so I go upstairs,

have a jacuzzi, listen to some music, read a book,

go out, look at the ocean, call my grandkids,

whatever, eight hours ahead. That's a good life.

It's not bad, yeah, it's pretty good.

Yeah, it's pretty good.

I mean, yes, and then I spend

six months of the time in England,

seeing the kids and the grandkids.

So I'm very fortunate to live in both places

and have a good, like you,

you live where you live now in Madrid, right?

No, I mean, I do spend time in Madrid,

but no, I live in the countryside.

[Ian] Ana de Armas as Paloma.

I love Paloma. Yeah.

It was very short, but it was unbelievably fun,

and I loved working with Daniel again,

and with that, just everyone, Lashanna, and the entire crew.

It was wonderful.

I wish we had had more of- It was a great character.

Yeah, it was a great character.

It was just like how easy going she was,

and how bubbly and fresh and just, you know,

like her energy was awesome.

Does Ana de Armas do ballet?

Oh no, I wish.

Actually, when I was young, I wanted to do ballet,

but I didn't get to do anything.

Speaking to you about ballet, yeah, I mean-

Yeah, it's big, it's big. Yeah, it's big, yeah.

It's such incredible- School there, yeah.

School and ballet company, and the dancers,

everyone is, they're all so talented and so beautiful, yeah.

I wish I had done it, but that wasn't-

You look great in a tutu.

[laughs] That didn't go well for me.

Ana de Armas gun training.

Gun training was, you know, it was tough.

It's just hard to get to the point of feeling, like,

so comfortable and confident with the guns,

and even 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.

So 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 assemble them, dis-assemble them.

Like, you know, it was really cool. My hands were hurting.

I had blisters at the beginning when I wasn't...

They're heavy. For me, they're heavy.

You get a rifle and it's like, I can't even lift it up.

And the flame thrower was heavy.

The 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, ice skates,

pencils, a hammer, a grenade. [laughs]

I love the ice skates. Yes, yes, yes.

Yes. Boom.

[Ana] Where does Ian McShane live now?

In my head? [pair laughs]

No, I live in Venice Beach, California,

and in Maryland and London.

So I spend time between both of them

because most of my grandkids live in England,

and my wife's American, so we live in Venice.

Was Ian McShane a footballer?

No, my dad was.

My dad played for Manchester United in the 50s,

and that's why, I mean, Ferguson's one of my best friends.

So, I mean, I've been a supporter of them for like the,

oh my God, coming on 70 years.

So seeing the club, through its highs and lows.

At the moment, we're going through a low,

but there is one high point.

We have a cup final next week, but, so go United, yeah.

But I love the game. I love the game.

But my favorite team, Manchester United, Barcelona.

You like Barcelona. Oh Barcelona,

you gotta like the way they play, yeah.

Barcelona is good.

Ian McShane, Blackbeard.

Ian McShane Blackbeard, what is that?

Oh yeah, yeah, with Johnny Depp.

I played Blackbeard, yeah, exactly. I've forgot.

All I remember is the black beard,

which looked like I had a cat slung around my face.

It was so big 'cause my hair was down here anyway.

Then they put this beard in and they attached it.

It looked like I had a permanent, like,

it was just hair everywhere, whatever, with every day.

Three hours of putting on this beard,

whatever, and attaching it, and I had sparklers in it,

so they went off at times, it lit up,

lit up and it went on smoke on fire, you know.

I'm sure you missed it when the shoot was over.

I be terribly missed it,

just like, oh, I love prosthetics.

I love putting all that crap on, yeah, you can't get rid of.

[Ana] Who is Ian McShane in Game of Thrones?

Oh, I played Ray, a peace-lover.

Oh yeah, it was funny 'cause they asked me, they said,

Do you want to be in 'Game of Thrones?'

I said, Serious, no thank you.

They said It's a peace-lover in one episode.

I said, Perfect, 'cause my grandkids

will never forgive me if I hadn't done it,

'cause they watched it religiously.

Of course. So I'll never forget,

the funny thing was going to Ireland and doing it,

Northern Ireland, Belfast, and the hotel first,

I remember checking in the hotel and they had a sign on it,

The most bummed hotel in Europe.

Oh, Oh yeah, the Europa.

Will Ian McShane be in John Wick 5?

If she's in it, I'm in it. [pair laughs]

Who the hell knows?

I know that every time when they do a new-

There is no John Wick without you.

Oh, that's a lovely thing you to say, darling.

We need Winston in every movie-

Well, I am the Wick whisperer, that's what Winston is.

I think his wife survived all the episodes,

you know what I mean, in a sense?

The only sad thing is we'll miss Lance.

What is Ana de Armas' accent?

My accent, my accent is a little crazy.

It depends of when I am, and who I'm talking to.

If I go to Cuba, as soon as I, it's very funny,

as soon as that plane lands and I get out of the plane,

I am fully Cuban.

It's like, it's crazy how my accent just changes,

like immediately, and sometimes also on the phone,

when I'm talking to my friends over there,

I just go fully Cuban.

But if I'm talking to my friends in Spain,

in Madrid, or I'm in Madrid, I somehow get,

not fully like Castilian accent, but like pretty close.

It's just my ear goes there.

Who is Ana de Armas', no sorry,

what is Ana de Armas' next movie?

I can't talk about it, but I am working on a few things.

I'm definitely training, doing some crazy stuff,

and it's a lot of fun, and we'll know more soon.

Okay. Ballerina's the next movie out, I mean, that's it.

What was Ana de Armas' breakout role?

Breakout role? Is that- [talking over each other]

What made them aware of you, you know, like international.

It's one of those questions, you know.

I mean I would say, even though for me,

was Blade Runner.

I don't think people consider Blade Runner my,

but yeah, I don't think that many people saw it,

or noticed me in it. [laughs]

But I would say a Knives Out.

I think Knives Out was my breakout role.

Yeah? Yeah,

with that amazing cast, I know, you know,

that the movie was so loved and well received by people,

and the character was, you know, was so good.

People really liked her.

What is Ana de Armas' eye color?

What do you think? Yeah, green, yellow?

[stammering] Yours are kinda, the light,

yeah, blue-gray, gray, a mixture of everything, yeah.

Yeah, I would say like green-yellow.

Green-yellow. Yeah.

Yeah, now I can see the light. Yeah, green-yellow.

Gorgeous. Final board.

[shrieks] Boom. Sorry. [laughs]

That's one of your fight scenes there?

[laughs] Yes. Using the board,

yeah, as a weapon. Yes.

Okay. Ian McShane best roles.

Best role? Roles?

I think maybe Al Swearengen in Deadwood.

I love Winston.

I mean, I say that, I mean there's a few,

I mean, I've got Disraeli.

I did, I mean, Jesus.

Judas and Jesus of Nazareth, with Zeffirelli.

I did my own show. Love Joy.

I mean, over the years people,

you know your own series, people, but my-

Do you even remember all your movies?

Do you know something?

That's how I remember how old I am and where you go through,

you know what films you've done.

That's how it was a good memory.

You think when you relate to stuff,

where you were, and whatever, I mean by movies you've done.

I don't know. I've done, I mean, about 80, 90 movies.

Yes, yes, absolutely. And God knows how many...

Yeah, but that's how you relate.

I did get oriented sometimes in life,

knowing what I was shooting that day.

Yeah, exactly, what you were shooting

and where you were, you relate back to that,

and it brings everything else back.

Yeah, 'cause that's our life, that's what we do. [laughs]

Yeah, that's what your life, that's what you do, yeah.

But yeah, most creatively, in a sense,

Al Swearengen in Deadwood, yeah,

which have probably sort of, you know,

they say it was a breakout role in America,

[laughs] or whatever they call it.

But it's nice, but this Winston I love.

I hope we keep doing it forever.

Okay. Okay.

[Ana] Ian McShane from Both Sides Now.

That's the album I made in England.

There's a record, I was talking about-

I really to listen to that.

I do, I used to do a series of my own show,

which I did, actually, I produced and did in England,

called Lovejoy, about an antiques dealer,

a rogue antiques dealer.

And my wife in '92, and she was going through something,

and I dedicated an album.

They said, You wanna make a record?

So I made this record, dedicated to my wife,

so, it's a few dodgy songs on it, a few good ones.

Ian McShane, Mr. Wednesday.

Ah, American Gods, a show that should have been great,

but wasn't. [pair laughs]

No, it's good, it could have been great,

but it went through too many changes

and they screwed it around too much,

but it was a really interesting book.

It should have been a blueprint. It could have gone.

We did three seasons, but it got...

Then it started covid, and it got fell away,

but the character was great. Hey, Ian McShane villain.

Well, my favorite, yeah,

my favorite is Sexy Beast, was a movie.

You seen that? No.

Well see it, it's a great movie, by Jonathan Glazer,

his first movie, which made it in 1998.

It's Ray Winston, Ben Kingsley, and me.

Ray Winston plays a gangster.

Ben Kingsley plays a crazy gangster,

but I play the real gangster,

[laughs] like the real bad guy.

But it's a terrific movie about a heist.

It's basically a, like all terrific movies,

it is a gangster movie,

but it's about a love story between Ray and his wife,

but it's a really, and Jonathan's a terrific director.

And then Al Swearengen, but villains became, you know,

villains only in the 2000s, the auts became,

well no, they didn't become villains,

they then became sort of complicated characters

we call 'em, yeah?

Interesting character, more than one side of them,

and not like the old days when you wore a white hat,

or you wore a black hat, now you wear a gray hat.

You know, it's in between a lot.

So villains have the, as somebody once said,

the Devil has the best tunes.

That was fun, wasn't it? Yes.

There was some good questions there.

We went through all the boards. That's it for now.

I more about you than when we started.

Yes.

And you know a little more about me, but there we go.

I loved it.

That was fun. Thank you very much.

See you next time guys. [bright music]