Evanescence and K.Flay announce Ballerina end-title song Fight Like A Girl
Evanescence have teamed up with K.Flay on the track 'Fight Like A Girl', the first end-title song in the John Wick film 'Ballerina'.
After frontwoman Amy Lee and Halsey dropped the original song 'Hand That Feeds' from the hotly awaited flick, the 'Bring Me To Life' group have joined forces with alternative star K.Flay on a song they co-wrote with Dylan Eiland and Ballerina film composer Tyler Bates.
A description of the song reads: "Fuelled by fierce energy and defiance, Fight Like A Girl channels the film's themes of vengeance, resilience, and female empowerment, mirroring its adrenaline-pumping intensity and emotional depth."
Both 'Fight Like A Girl' and 'Ballerina' are released on June 6.
Amy Lee said: 'Tyler calling me up to create this song for Ballerina couldn't have come at a more perfect time, I know I'm not the only girl out there ready to dig my heels in and show the world what we're made of.
'I really wanted this song to be a collab, and K.Flay is one of my favourite artists. It is literally a dream come true to do this together!'
Grammy-nominated K.Flay casually penned her verse backstage after a concert while her "adrenaline was still super high".
She added: 'Amy sent me the demo and I was immediately so energised, so inspired.
I was on tour at the time, and I wrote my verse backstage after a show, when my adrenaline was still super high. For me, the film and the song are both about how we channel our pain and how we choose to define ourselves. What separates the hero from the villain?'
Taking place during the events of 'John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum', 'Ballerina' follows Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) who is beginning her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.
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Years before Ana de Armas was using an ice skate to slice a neck in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, she co-starred with Keanu Reeves in a much different film. The erotic thriller Knock Knock, released in 2015, was de Armas' first Hollywood film. De Armas, born and raised in Cuba, had just come to Los Angeles after acting in Spain. English was new to her, so she had to learn her lines phonetically. "It was tough and I felt miserable at times and very lonely," she says. "But I wanted to prove myself. I remember being in meetings with producers and they would be like, 'OK, I'll see you in a year when you learn English.' Before I left the office, I would say, 'I'll see you in two months'." Since Knock Knock, her rise to stardom has been one of the last decade's most meteoric. She was radiant even as a hologram in Blade Runner 2049. She stole the show in Rian Johnson's star-studded Knives Out. 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But Ballerina will rely on de Armas (and abiding "John Wick" fandom) to put moviegoers in seats. Reviews, particularly for de Armas playing a ballerina-assassin, have been good. "There's a lot of pressure," says director Len Wiseman. "It's a lot to carry all on her shoulders. But she'll be the first person to tell you: 'Put it on. Let me carry the weight. I'm totally game'." De Armas, whose talents include the ability to be present and personable on even the most frenzied red carpets, has done the globe-trotting work to make Ballerina a big deal: appearing at CinemaCon, gamely eating hot wings and cheerfully deflecting questions about her next film, Deeper, with Tom Cruise. Yet for someone so comfortable in the spotlight, one of the more interesting facts about de Armas is that she lives part-time in that bastion of young A-listers: Vermont. "Yeah, it surprised many people," she says, chuckling. "As soon as I went up there, I knew that was going to be a place that would bring me happiness and sanity and peace. But I know for a Cuban who doesn't like cold very much, it's very strange." Winding up in northern New England is just as unexpected as landing an action movie like Ballerina. She grew up with the conviction, from age 12, that she would be an actor. But she studied theatre. "I never thought I was going to do action," de Armas says. "What was relatable for me was watching Cuban actors on TV and in movies. That was my reality. That's all I knew, so the actors I looked up to were those." De Armas also had bad asthma, which makes some of the things she does in Ballerina - a movie with a flamethrower duel - all the more remarkable to her. "I couldn't do anything," she remembers. "I couldn't run. I sometimes couldn't play with my friends. I had to just be home and be still so I wouldn't get an asthma attack. So I never thought of myself as someone athletic or able to run just a block. So this has been a surprise." At 14, she auditioned and got into Havana's National Theatre of Cuba. Four years later, with Spanish citizenship through her grandparents, she moved to Madrid to pursue acting. When she arrived in LA in 2014, she had to start all over again. Now as one of the top Latina stars in Hollywood, she's watched as immigrant paths like hers have grown increasingly arduous if not impossible. The Trump administration recently announced a travel ban on 12 countries and heavy restrictions on citizens of other countries, including Cuba. "I got here at a time when things were definitely easier in that sense," says de Armas, who announced her then-imminent US citizenship while hosting Saturday Night Live in 2023. "So I just feel very lucky for that. But it's difficult. Everything that's going on is very difficult and very sad and really challenging for many people. 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You've got to love it and put yourself out there," says Stahelski. "When you get her story about how she came from the age of 12, got into acting, what she sacrificed, what she did, that's what got my attention. 'Oh, she's a perseverer. She doesn't just enjoy the view, she enjoys the climb'." When that quote is read back to her, de Armas laughs, and agrees. "Being Cuban, and my upbringing and my family and everything I've done, I've never had a plan B," she says. "I've never had that thing of, 'Well, if it doesn't work, my family can help.' Or, 'I can do this other career.' This was it. This is how I feed myself and my family. So it's also a sense of, I don't know, responsibility." That makes her reflect back to when she was just trying to make it in Hollywood, sounding out words and trying not to be intimidated by the action star across from her. "I was so committed to do it," she says. "When I give something a shot, I try my best, whatever that is. 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She breezed through the Bond movie No Time to Die and was Oscar nominated for her Marilyn Monroe in Blonde. And now, 10 years after those scenes with Reeves, de Armas is for the first time headlining a big summer action movie. In Ballerina, de Armas's progressive development as an unlikely action star reaches a butt-kicking crescendo, inheriting the mantle of one of the most esteemed, high-body-count franchises. "It's a big moment in my career, and I know that. I can see that," she says. "It makes me look back in many ways, just being with Keanu in another film in such a different place in my career. It definitely gives me perspective of the journey and everything since we met. Things have come far since then." While de Armas, 37, isn't new to movie stardom, or the tabloid coverage that comes with it, many of her career highlights have been streaming releases. The Gray Man and Blonde were Netflix. Ghosted was Apple TV+. But Ballerina will rely on de Armas (and abiding "John Wick" fandom) to put moviegoers in seats. Reviews, particularly for de Armas playing a ballerina-assassin, have been good. "There's a lot of pressure," says director Len Wiseman. "It's a lot to carry all on her shoulders. But she'll be the first person to tell you: 'Put it on. Let me carry the weight. I'm totally game'." De Armas, whose talents include the ability to be present and personable on even the most frenzied red carpets, has done the globe-trotting work to make Ballerina a big deal: appearing at CinemaCon, gamely eating hot wings and cheerfully deflecting questions about her next film, Deeper, with Tom Cruise. Yet for someone so comfortable in the spotlight, one of the more interesting facts about de Armas is that she lives part-time in that bastion of young A-listers: Vermont. "Yeah, it surprised many people," she says, chuckling. "As soon as I went up there, I knew that was going to be a place that would bring me happiness and sanity and peace. But I know for a Cuban who doesn't like cold very much, it's very strange." Winding up in northern New England is just as unexpected as landing an action movie like Ballerina. She grew up with the conviction, from age 12, that she would be an actor. But she studied theatre. "I never thought I was going to do action," de Armas says. "What was relatable for me was watching Cuban actors on TV and in movies. That was my reality. That's all I knew, so the actors I looked up to were those." De Armas also had bad asthma, which makes some of the things she does in Ballerina - a movie with a flamethrower duel - all the more remarkable to her. "I couldn't do anything," she remembers. "I couldn't run. I sometimes couldn't play with my friends. I had to just be home and be still so I wouldn't get an asthma attack. So I never thought of myself as someone athletic or able to run just a block. So this has been a surprise." At 14, she auditioned and got into Havana's National Theatre of Cuba. Four years later, with Spanish citizenship through her grandparents, she moved to Madrid to pursue acting. When she arrived in LA in 2014, she had to start all over again. Now as one of the top Latina stars in Hollywood, she's watched as immigrant paths like hers have grown increasingly arduous if not impossible. The Trump administration recently announced a travel ban on 12 countries and heavy restrictions on citizens of other countries, including Cuba. "I got here at a time when things were definitely easier in that sense," says de Armas, who announced her then-imminent US citizenship while hosting Saturday Night Live in 2023. "So I just feel very lucky for that. But it's difficult. Everything that's going on is very difficult and very sad and really challenging for many people. I definitely wish things were different." Chad Stahelski, director of the four John Wick films and producer of Ballerina, was about to start production on John Wick: Chapter 4 when producer Basil Iwanyk called to set up a Zoom about casting de Armas. He quickly watched every scene she had been in. "How many people would have played the Bond girl kind of goofy like that?" he asks. "I know that I can harden people up. I know I can make them the assassin, but getting the charm and the love and the humour out of someone is trickier. But she had it." In Knives Out, Stahelski saw someone who could go from scared and uncertain to a look of "I'm going to stab you in the eye". "I like that in my action heroes," he says. "I don't want to see the stoic, superhero vibe where everything's going to be OK." But it wasn't just her acting or her charisma that convinced Stahelski. It was her life story. "John Wick is all hard work - and I don't mean just in the training. You've got to love it and put yourself out there," says Stahelski. "When you get her story about how she came from the age of 12, got into acting, what she sacrificed, what she did, that's what got my attention. 'Oh, she's a perseverer. She doesn't just enjoy the view, she enjoys the climb'." When that quote is read back to her, de Armas laughs, and agrees. "Being Cuban, and my upbringing and my family and everything I've done, I've never had a plan B," she says. "I've never had that thing of, 'Well, if it doesn't work, my family can help.' Or, 'I can do this other career.' This was it. This is how I feed myself and my family. So it's also a sense of, I don't know, responsibility." That makes her reflect back to when she was just trying to make it in Hollywood, sounding out words and trying not to be intimidated by the action star across from her. "I was so committed to do it," she says. "When I give something a shot, I try my best, whatever that is. Then I can actually say: I gave it a shot." Years before Ana de Armas was using an ice skate to slice a neck in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, she co-starred with Keanu Reeves in a much different film. The erotic thriller Knock Knock, released in 2015, was de Armas' first Hollywood film. De Armas, born and raised in Cuba, had just come to Los Angeles after acting in Spain. English was new to her, so she had to learn her lines phonetically. "It was tough and I felt miserable at times and very lonely," she says. "But I wanted to prove myself. I remember being in meetings with producers and they would be like, 'OK, I'll see you in a year when you learn English.' Before I left the office, I would say, 'I'll see you in two months'." Since Knock Knock, her rise to stardom has been one of the last decade's most meteoric. She was radiant even as a hologram in Blade Runner 2049. She stole the show in Rian Johnson's star-studded Knives Out. She breezed through the Bond movie No Time to Die and was Oscar nominated for her Marilyn Monroe in Blonde. And now, 10 years after those scenes with Reeves, de Armas is for the first time headlining a big summer action movie. In Ballerina, de Armas's progressive development as an unlikely action star reaches a butt-kicking crescendo, inheriting the mantle of one of the most esteemed, high-body-count franchises. "It's a big moment in my career, and I know that. I can see that," she says. "It makes me look back in many ways, just being with Keanu in another film in such a different place in my career. It definitely gives me perspective of the journey and everything since we met. Things have come far since then." While de Armas, 37, isn't new to movie stardom, or the tabloid coverage that comes with it, many of her career highlights have been streaming releases. The Gray Man and Blonde were Netflix. Ghosted was Apple TV+. But Ballerina will rely on de Armas (and abiding "John Wick" fandom) to put moviegoers in seats. Reviews, particularly for de Armas playing a ballerina-assassin, have been good. "There's a lot of pressure," says director Len Wiseman. "It's a lot to carry all on her shoulders. But she'll be the first person to tell you: 'Put it on. Let me carry the weight. I'm totally game'." De Armas, whose talents include the ability to be present and personable on even the most frenzied red carpets, has done the globe-trotting work to make Ballerina a big deal: appearing at CinemaCon, gamely eating hot wings and cheerfully deflecting questions about her next film, Deeper, with Tom Cruise. Yet for someone so comfortable in the spotlight, one of the more interesting facts about de Armas is that she lives part-time in that bastion of young A-listers: Vermont. "Yeah, it surprised many people," she says, chuckling. "As soon as I went up there, I knew that was going to be a place that would bring me happiness and sanity and peace. But I know for a Cuban who doesn't like cold very much, it's very strange." Winding up in northern New England is just as unexpected as landing an action movie like Ballerina. She grew up with the conviction, from age 12, that she would be an actor. But she studied theatre. "I never thought I was going to do action," de Armas says. "What was relatable for me was watching Cuban actors on TV and in movies. That was my reality. That's all I knew, so the actors I looked up to were those." De Armas also had bad asthma, which makes some of the things she does in Ballerina - a movie with a flamethrower duel - all the more remarkable to her. "I couldn't do anything," she remembers. "I couldn't run. I sometimes couldn't play with my friends. I had to just be home and be still so I wouldn't get an asthma attack. So I never thought of myself as someone athletic or able to run just a block. So this has been a surprise." At 14, she auditioned and got into Havana's National Theatre of Cuba. Four years later, with Spanish citizenship through her grandparents, she moved to Madrid to pursue acting. When she arrived in LA in 2014, she had to start all over again. Now as one of the top Latina stars in Hollywood, she's watched as immigrant paths like hers have grown increasingly arduous if not impossible. The Trump administration recently announced a travel ban on 12 countries and heavy restrictions on citizens of other countries, including Cuba. "I got here at a time when things were definitely easier in that sense," says de Armas, who announced her then-imminent US citizenship while hosting Saturday Night Live in 2023. "So I just feel very lucky for that. But it's difficult. Everything that's going on is very difficult and very sad and really challenging for many people. I definitely wish things were different." Chad Stahelski, director of the four John Wick films and producer of Ballerina, was about to start production on John Wick: Chapter 4 when producer Basil Iwanyk called to set up a Zoom about casting de Armas. He quickly watched every scene she had been in. "How many people would have played the Bond girl kind of goofy like that?" he asks. "I know that I can harden people up. I know I can make them the assassin, but getting the charm and the love and the humour out of someone is trickier. But she had it." In Knives Out, Stahelski saw someone who could go from scared and uncertain to a look of "I'm going to stab you in the eye". "I like that in my action heroes," he says. "I don't want to see the stoic, superhero vibe where everything's going to be OK." But it wasn't just her acting or her charisma that convinced Stahelski. It was her life story. "John Wick is all hard work - and I don't mean just in the training. You've got to love it and put yourself out there," says Stahelski. "When you get her story about how she came from the age of 12, got into acting, what she sacrificed, what she did, that's what got my attention. 'Oh, she's a perseverer. She doesn't just enjoy the view, she enjoys the climb'." When that quote is read back to her, de Armas laughs, and agrees. "Being Cuban, and my upbringing and my family and everything I've done, I've never had a plan B," she says. "I've never had that thing of, 'Well, if it doesn't work, my family can help.' Or, 'I can do this other career.' This was it. This is how I feed myself and my family. So it's also a sense of, I don't know, responsibility." That makes her reflect back to when she was just trying to make it in Hollywood, sounding out words and trying not to be intimidated by the action star across from her. "I was so committed to do it," she says. "When I give something a shot, I try my best, whatever that is. Then I can actually say: I gave it a shot." Years before Ana de Armas was using an ice skate to slice a neck in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, she co-starred with Keanu Reeves in a much different film. The erotic thriller Knock Knock, released in 2015, was de Armas' first Hollywood film. De Armas, born and raised in Cuba, had just come to Los Angeles after acting in Spain. English was new to her, so she had to learn her lines phonetically. "It was tough and I felt miserable at times and very lonely," she says. "But I wanted to prove myself. I remember being in meetings with producers and they would be like, 'OK, I'll see you in a year when you learn English.' Before I left the office, I would say, 'I'll see you in two months'." Since Knock Knock, her rise to stardom has been one of the last decade's most meteoric. She was radiant even as a hologram in Blade Runner 2049. She stole the show in Rian Johnson's star-studded Knives Out. She breezed through the Bond movie No Time to Die and was Oscar nominated for her Marilyn Monroe in Blonde. And now, 10 years after those scenes with Reeves, de Armas is for the first time headlining a big summer action movie. In Ballerina, de Armas's progressive development as an unlikely action star reaches a butt-kicking crescendo, inheriting the mantle of one of the most esteemed, high-body-count franchises. "It's a big moment in my career, and I know that. I can see that," she says. "It makes me look back in many ways, just being with Keanu in another film in such a different place in my career. It definitely gives me perspective of the journey and everything since we met. Things have come far since then." While de Armas, 37, isn't new to movie stardom, or the tabloid coverage that comes with it, many of her career highlights have been streaming releases. The Gray Man and Blonde were Netflix. Ghosted was Apple TV+. But Ballerina will rely on de Armas (and abiding "John Wick" fandom) to put moviegoers in seats. Reviews, particularly for de Armas playing a ballerina-assassin, have been good. "There's a lot of pressure," says director Len Wiseman. "It's a lot to carry all on her shoulders. But she'll be the first person to tell you: 'Put it on. Let me carry the weight. I'm totally game'." De Armas, whose talents include the ability to be present and personable on even the most frenzied red carpets, has done the globe-trotting work to make Ballerina a big deal: appearing at CinemaCon, gamely eating hot wings and cheerfully deflecting questions about her next film, Deeper, with Tom Cruise. Yet for someone so comfortable in the spotlight, one of the more interesting facts about de Armas is that she lives part-time in that bastion of young A-listers: Vermont. "Yeah, it surprised many people," she says, chuckling. "As soon as I went up there, I knew that was going to be a place that would bring me happiness and sanity and peace. But I know for a Cuban who doesn't like cold very much, it's very strange." Winding up in northern New England is just as unexpected as landing an action movie like Ballerina. She grew up with the conviction, from age 12, that she would be an actor. But she studied theatre. "I never thought I was going to do action," de Armas says. "What was relatable for me was watching Cuban actors on TV and in movies. That was my reality. That's all I knew, so the actors I looked up to were those." De Armas also had bad asthma, which makes some of the things she does in Ballerina - a movie with a flamethrower duel - all the more remarkable to her. "I couldn't do anything," she remembers. "I couldn't run. I sometimes couldn't play with my friends. I had to just be home and be still so I wouldn't get an asthma attack. So I never thought of myself as someone athletic or able to run just a block. So this has been a surprise." At 14, she auditioned and got into Havana's National Theatre of Cuba. Four years later, with Spanish citizenship through her grandparents, she moved to Madrid to pursue acting. When she arrived in LA in 2014, she had to start all over again. Now as one of the top Latina stars in Hollywood, she's watched as immigrant paths like hers have grown increasingly arduous if not impossible. The Trump administration recently announced a travel ban on 12 countries and heavy restrictions on citizens of other countries, including Cuba. "I got here at a time when things were definitely easier in that sense," says de Armas, who announced her then-imminent US citizenship while hosting Saturday Night Live in 2023. "So I just feel very lucky for that. But it's difficult. Everything that's going on is very difficult and very sad and really challenging for many people. I definitely wish things were different." Chad Stahelski, director of the four John Wick films and producer of Ballerina, was about to start production on John Wick: Chapter 4 when producer Basil Iwanyk called to set up a Zoom about casting de Armas. He quickly watched every scene she had been in. "How many people would have played the Bond girl kind of goofy like that?" he asks. "I know that I can harden people up. I know I can make them the assassin, but getting the charm and the love and the humour out of someone is trickier. But she had it." In Knives Out, Stahelski saw someone who could go from scared and uncertain to a look of "I'm going to stab you in the eye". "I like that in my action heroes," he says. "I don't want to see the stoic, superhero vibe where everything's going to be OK." But it wasn't just her acting or her charisma that convinced Stahelski. It was her life story. "John Wick is all hard work - and I don't mean just in the training. You've got to love it and put yourself out there," says Stahelski. "When you get her story about how she came from the age of 12, got into acting, what she sacrificed, what she did, that's what got my attention. 'Oh, she's a perseverer. She doesn't just enjoy the view, she enjoys the climb'." When that quote is read back to her, de Armas laughs, and agrees. "Being Cuban, and my upbringing and my family and everything I've done, I've never had a plan B," she says. "I've never had that thing of, 'Well, if it doesn't work, my family can help.' Or, 'I can do this other career.' This was it. This is how I feed myself and my family. So it's also a sense of, I don't know, responsibility." That makes her reflect back to when she was just trying to make it in Hollywood, sounding out words and trying not to be intimidated by the action star across from her. "I was so committed to do it," she says. "When I give something a shot, I try my best, whatever that is. Then I can actually say: I gave it a shot."
Sydney Morning Herald
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- Sydney Morning Herald
‘The most fun you can have as an actor': ABC thriller warms up after chilly reception
Even for a Tasmanian, the remote northwest coast of the island state can be a land unto itself. Returning to Zeehan and Queenstown to reprise his role as loyal handyman Jeremiah in the second season of Marta Dusseldorp 's darkly comic thriller Bay of Fires, the Hobart-raised, New York City-based Toby Leonard Moore found himself re-adjusting to the pace. 'The first time I went walking in Queenstown, my one-kilometre split was three minutes slower than what I do in New York,' says Moore, who has appeared opposite Keanu Reeves in John Wick, Gary Oldman in Mank and Paul Giamatti in Billions. 'I just slowed right down.' He also noticed a warmer reception from the locals. 'The first time, there was a sense that we were invading the town. But this time, since they'd all seen [the series], and a lot of locals were background actors, I think they felt more of a part of it.' While shooting the first season, in which his character becomes a casual love interest for Dusseldorp's CEO on the run, Stella Heikkinen, Moore tried to get a meal at the pub. What transpired was like a scene from the script. 'I went to the bottle shop of a bar that I would later find out the crew referred to as 'The Punchy Pub',' he recalls. 'It was about 6.15pm. I said, 'Oh, g'day. Have you got a bistro out the back there?' And this lady said to me, 'Yep'. And I said, 'Great. And what time do you guys usually stop serving dinner?' And she looked me up and down. She said, 'Oh, about now, I reckon, mate'. And I said, 'Copy that, loud and clear'. Coming back [for the second season], all that had all gone away.' Some sinister elements of the location remained, however. Loading 'The Gaiety Theatre in Zeehan feels like you're on a back lot at Paramount [Studios],' he says. 'It's epic, the facade. And there's a real history there. One day, we were shooting in a pub across the street. It must have been about 3 or 4 degrees outside. And we went into the pub and it felt 5 degrees colder inside. And I said, 'How the hell is it colder inside than outside?' And one of the crew said, 'Oh, that'll be the ghosts'. Tassie has a dark history. That's one of the things that attracted me to the show. In Tassie, they don't shy away from that.'
