Blade Runner 2049 is a masterpiece, and there’s no doubt about it. And its no surprise that each of its character will remain stuck in the minds of every die-hard film enthusiast, thanks to a phenomenal and outstanding performance by a stellar cast, involving Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Sylvia Hoaks and the breakout star of the film, Ana De Armas.
Joi, a hologram-based AI character, played by Armas, who assists Ryan Gosling’s Officer K, in his routine tasks and is highly attached to him, was a mesmerizing and stunning, impactful character who blew every critic’s and filmgoer’s mind away, with an enigmatic portrayal of futuristic technology, also emoting human feelings!
Recently, the actress, during a media interaction told about Joi’s impressions and how she successfully acted out that one sequence where Ryan Gosling’s K gets crash-landed in a city-size landfill and Joi’s movements get a technical glitch!
Regarding that scene, Armas said, “I told Ryan, ‘You’re not allowed to look at me! You passed out, so keep it that way,’”, she told. “It’s scary because you don’t know what it’s going to look like. It can look great or it can be embarrassing,”, she said, continuing further. But it was one of the many greats scenes, combined with the special effects and Armas’s brilliance.
Telling about Joi’s emotional portrayals and character development, Armas said, “When I read [the script], my intuition was telling me she was very emotional and very real, but I was so confused. Denis was always asking for that vulnerability, [but] even when we had conversations with the visual effects team, nobody knew what she was going to look like. It was kind of like a blind process for me… I normally speak by moving my hands and I’m very expressive with my face— something Cuban, I guess. This one had to be everything emotional inside, but little physically.”
She then told regarding her future plans and what kind of roles she wants to portray on-screen, that, “I want to do everything and beyond. I want to create impact,” she said.
“Until now, I’ve always been the wife or the girlfriend of the lead actor in a movie. I’ve learned a lot from it, and I played it because I really wanted the part, but there’s more than that.”
“There are great female roles that are not only reacting or creating the situation for [the man] to be the hero. I want to show how strong and smart women are. We go through so much. We need to see that on screen. Those female parts are not many, but they are out there, and I have to find some. I want that chance.”
