Why Is Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck’s Quarantine Relationship So Riveting?
Normal People is hot. Killing Eve is thrilling. But, to me, the most gripping quarantine saga is the burgeoning, highly public relationship between Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck, playing out not on Hulu but the largely deserted streets of Venice, California.
I’ve previously raged about my irritation when people suggest quarantine hobbies; with two children, a job, and no childcare, I struggle to squeeze in even a shower. And yet, I manage to carve out the time in my busy schedule to track the daily happenings of this new couple as they stare at desert vistas and go on masked walks with their respective dogs.
Early on in the pandemic, I watched Knives Out and promptly fell in love with de Armas; I loved her quietly enchanting performance, and the fact that she, like me, is of Cuban descent. Little did I know I wouldn’t have to wait for her next on-screen role to be seeing more of her.
At the precise same time that the COVID-19 crisis broke out, so, too, did de Armas and Affleck’s relationship. According to exhaustive online timelines, the pair, who met on the set of the “erotic thriller” Deep Water, was first spotted in her native Cuba in early March. By March 13, as millions of people began to shelter in place, Us Weekly confirmed de Armas and Affleck were officially dating. These two events created a Venn-diagram overlap of listless people stuck at home looking for an escape from pandemic news and a new couple hungry to share their love on the world stage. Soon enough, an ever-present pack of paparazzi (I hope they’re observing social distancing from one another!) were on their trail, snapping away as de Affleck (BenAna?) engaged in that famous-couple rite of passage: picking up Starbucks iced coffees.
Since then, they’ve risen like the sprawling phoenix tattoo on Affleck’s back, participating in the usual, time-honored PDA—nuzzles and canoodles galore—except in camo-print protective masks. Celebrating her 32nd birthday in April, de Armas made it Instagram official, with cuddly pics of her and Affleck hiking in the desert.
The couple has a knack for creating intrigue (morbid or otherwise). In early May, they gave their new paparazzi shadows the gift of getting locked out of de Armas’s house—where they’ve evidently been quarantining together—forcing Affleck to all but parkour through a window. Their latest foray? The pair just “stepped out,” as tabloid lingo likes to phrase it, each wearing half of what looks like the broken-heart-shaped BFF necklace my best friend gave me in third grade.
I’ve scarcely seen this level of public loving since Bennifer in 2002, or Affleck’s ex-nanny Christine Ouhanian in 2015, or Playboy model Shauna Sexton in 2018...wait, are we sensing a pattern here? It does seem that Affleck is the common denominator, always catapulting his relationships into the gossip-sphere.
What’s next for this engrossing love story? Will they get a dog together? Is an engagement nigh? Rest assured, no matter what happens, I will be powerless to look away.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
