As the new Bond girl, Ana de Armas is making a name for herself. The 31-year-old appears on the cover of Net-A-Porter’s magazine, Porter ‘s latest issue, and is considered a Ones to Watch. We couldn’t agree more. As with many rising stars, a growing audience often opens the door to a whole new world and that includes a covetable wardrobe. But it wasn’t always that way for the Cuban actress. In her interview with the fashion publication, the brunette beauty opened up about growing up in La Havana and how she wore her brother’s hand-me-downs for many years.

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Ana, who plays CIA agent Paloma in No Time to Die, shared that recycling clothes was an economic necessity at that time in Cuba. She explained she wore her older sibling’s clothes– “his old school uniform pants cut into play shorts.”

The Blonde actress told the fashion glossy that despite being proud of her Cuban heritage, to pursue her life’s dream of acting, she needed to leave her country, which she did at the age of 18.

“So before I even turned 18, I told my parents that was going to happen,” she said in reference to moving to Europe. “They’ve been so supportive, I was lucky. But it was me going into the unknown. I was just like, ‘This is what I’m going to do with my life.’ I put myself in their shoes and realize now what they were thinking, and how terrifying it must have been.”

Ana’s bold move definitely paid off. The Blade Runner 2049 actress has been cast in one role after the next and she was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her work in Knives Out.

“It was very unexpected for me, and obviously I was proud and honored,” she said. “I was really nervous and kind of wishing I wasn’t going to win, so I wouldn’t have to go up on stage. At first, I thought, ‘What am I going to do there by myself with all these people?’”