Ballerina’s Brutal Ice Skate Fight: How Ana de Armas Brought a New Weapon to the John Wick Universe

The John Wick franchise has always been about creative combat, where the environment becomes a weapon as much as the guns in hand. In Len Wiseman’s spin-off Ballerina — now available on digital platforms after its June theatrical release — Ana de Armas delivers one of the most inventive set-pieces in the series: turning a pair of figure skates into deadly tools on a frozen battlefield.

From Ballet to Bloodshed: The Ice Skate Sequence

In the film’s climax, de Armas’ character straps on skates to fend off gun-toting guards. What begins on solid ground soon spills onto ice, forcing her to fight while slipping, sliding, and improvising with blades strapped to her feet.

According to stunt coordinators Stephen Dunlevy and Jackson Spidell, director Len Wiseman wanted the audience to truly feel the danger.

• “Len wanted the skates to be used in the most violent manner possible,” Spidell revealed.

• Dunlevy added: “An ice blade to the face makes people cringe because it’s an everyday object not designed to do that. That’s what makes it terrifying.”

De Armas trained with screws in her shoes for traction, but her stunt doubles took the brunt of the falls and slips on ice. The team even experimented with leaving a bloody trail across the rink, inspired by Dunlevy’s memory of a hockey injury, but time constraints forced them to adjust.

Carrying the Wick Legacy

Following Keanu Reeves’ revitalization of action cinema with Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, Ballerina had high expectations. While it didn’t match the box office highs of the main Wick entries, critics and fans praised its commitment to practical stunt work and escalating set-pieces. The ice skate fight embodies the franchise’s ethos: using everyday objects in wildly inventive, environment-driven combat.

The Bigger Picture: Stunts as an Art Form

Both Dunlevy and Spidell celebrated the Academy’s decision to add a Best Stunt Design category at the 2028 Oscars, calling it overdue recognition for an essential craft.

• Dunlevy: “Every blockbuster — and many Oscar-winning films — are stunt-driven. If every other on-camera department is represented, stunts should be, too.”

• Spidell noted that films like Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning and Superman would have been frontrunners this year, alongside Ballerina.

Looking Ahead

With John Wick: Chapter 5 officially in development, there’s a real possibility that Dunlevy, Spidell, and their teams will soon be competing for Oscar gold. As Spidell put it: “We’ll do what we can. There’s always something new for John.”