From Oscar Nominee to Action Star: Catalina Sandino Moreno on Her Journey Into John Wick’s World in “Ballerina”
“I never saw myself as an action [actor]. But I’ve been in this industry a little bit, and I know you have to have an open mind to everything,” says Catalina Moreno, who stars alongside Ana de Armas in the upcoming From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, the fifth film in the popular franchise. Her teenage son, she says, is “obsessed with John Wick, so when I got the script for Ballerina I thought, maybe it was meant to be.”
She brushed up on the John Wick series by watching with her son. “He’s my fan and I love that,” she says. “We watched to see when the Ruska Roma started in the John Wick world since it is a big part of Ballerina. Ana is a ballerina and trained assassin in the traditions of the Ruska Roma. So it’s interesting to discover these little doors that the John Wick world leaves open to explore.”
Although Moreno is best known for indie dramas, starting with her breakout role in the 2004 sleeper Maria Full of Grace, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination, she is now taking on more genre roles. In 2023, she worked with Hong Kong action master Woo on Silent Night and says she prepared by watching Woo’s Face/Off and The Killer. “I learned to appreciate them,” she says. She’s currently in her fourth season starring in the science fiction horror television series FROM.
“Action films are following me now,” says Moreno, who’ll next be seen in the crime thriller RIP slated for release in November from Netflix. “I read the script and it was so good; very entertaining and super fast-paced.” She was eager to work with actors Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Steven Yeun. “I admire and grew up with them, so I had to do it. I told my grandmother I was in a movie with Ben Affleck. She didn’t know who he was until I said, ‘Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husband.’ Then she knew.”
Moreno is enjoying being at a point in her career when she’s experimenting with different roles.
“When I started, I felt so much pressure because I traveled the world with [Maria Full of Grace] and I saw people’s reactions to the movie. It felt like a big responsibility, especially being Colombian and representing a Colombian film. Now I feel a movie can be just entertaining … I feel like I can play a bit. I’m able to let go of the pressure I put on myself.”
She never expected Maria Full of Grace to be such a critical and commercial hit. “I was excited because it was HBO and I had HBO at home,” she says. “I just wanted to watch it in my house; I never expected it would be in film festivals or win anything. I never imagined how impactful it would be in my life.”
Moreno attended a screening last year to celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary. “The theater was packed with people. When the film came out, some questioned how an American filmmaker [Joshua Marston] could tell this Colombian story. But he did it so beautifully because it was from the girl’s point of view about the world of narco trafficking. The way he did it was so touching and current. I saw people who watched it for the first time 20 years later and were still moved by it.”
“I love the movie,” Moreno continues. “I’m still in contact with Joshua; he is a good friend. I believe if I had done a comedy for my first movie, my career would have been complexly different. This one made a dent in my life for sure.”
After the impact of her debut, Moreno was selective about roles because she wasn’t being offered much challenging material.
“They sent me the sexy Latina, the maid, the Colombian drug dealer, the poor immigrant. I love those stories, but when you’re given only those roles in a short period, [I wondered] ‘do I have to do this to survive?’”
She waited two years before making her second feature, Fast Food Nation, and in 2008, starred with Benicio del Toro in Steven Soderbergh’s Che.
“I thought I had to do important films,” she says. “Who cares about superheroes or romance? I pressured myself to make movies that mattered. [For Che] I went to Cuba. I read the book. I love the process of working on important films, but every film has its place. For John Wick fans, Ballerina is important. It’s a continuation of this incredible world.”
Moreno credits de Armas for inspiring her to make daring career choices. “I told her I admire her so much; what she did with Marilyn was inspiring for me as a Latina. Who would have thought Hollywood would allow a Cuban to play Marilyn Monroe?” says Moreno about de Armas’s acclaimed performance in Blonde (2022). “That opens ground for all of us. I love that about her. Ana showed me you can do any role if you are passionate. It does not matter where you’re from or who you are; you can be fearless.”
Ballernia is in theaters on June 6.
Featured image: Catalina Sandino Moreno as Lena in Ballerina. Photo Credit: Larry D. Horricks
