Ana De Armas On Choppy Bobs, Going Blonde To Play Marilyn Monroe And Building A Meditation Room

Whether she's playing a translucent hologram in a post-apocalyptic future, fighting bad guys side by side with Bond as an undercover CIA agent, or embodying the most recognisable beauty icon in history, Marilyn Monroe, Ana De Armas is a force to be reckoned with. Having conquered Hollywood, the Golden Globe-nominated actor has now set her sights on the world of beauty, taking up the glamorous position of Estée Lauder's new Global Brand Ambassador.

ELLE UK caught up with the Cuban-Spanish actor for a virtual chat about mindful beauty routines, meditation rooms, going for the chop and the secrets behind Marilyn Monroe's make-up...

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What was your first experience of beauty?

'I remember using my grandmother's face creams - she always looked so elegant and beautiful. She was from Spain, and moved to Cuba to a country that was really hot and humid but she was still always so well put together. Even when she would go grocery shopping, the image I have of my grandma is her looking so pretty and clearly doing it for herself and no one else. That was my first impression of what a beautiful woman is.'

What does beauty mean to you?

'What I find the most attractive is when I feel like someone's being genuine. You can tell when someone is being authentic or just imitating someone else. I see women that wear a more natural beauty look like almost no make-up, while others go really bold and wear beautiful lashes, colours, liners and glitter.'

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How does self-care tie into your beauty routine?

'It's been a very intense year for everybody and I thought that it was important to figure out a way in which I could create the space to take time for myself to think, meditate, feel good and healthy, so I built a meditation room. I exercise pretty much every day and I've learnt to enjoy my time in the bathroom doing my beauty routine, my ritual! You need that time to put on your creams, wash your face...'

You recently cut your hair into a super short bob...

'Yes! I'm about to start shooting this movie with the Russo brothers and working with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans again and it's a really active role. We started discussing what we wanted my character to look like and how that would work with all the action and we found all these pictures of really short hair. Action films don't really work with wearing wigs so I was like, "I'm going for it, let's cut it for real".'

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What's the most dramatic transformation you've had for a role?

'It was a big, big, big challenge playing Marilyn Monroe. It would have been very easy to just nail her look - the lips, the lashes but that's not who she truly was, she was way more than that. It was quite a thing to go back to that time period and look at her beauty routine and the way she did her face. I wore that make-up so many times I could do it on my own now. Her hair changed shades of blonde all the time, and got shorter and longer. Even the fashion, with the bras and the dresses, was so highly produced.'

How does your own make-up routine compare to Marilyn's?

'I usually like a "no make-up make-up" look - very, very natural. Most of the time I just put on a little concealer and then mascara and maybe some very natural eyeshadow and a bit of blusher. I like everything very subtle but just enough to make me feel like I'm awake and ready.'