It was the spring of 2020. The world had basically shut down, and for some reason, we were all collectively obsessed with two people walking dogs in Brentwood. Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck weren't just a couple; they were the only thing happening in entertainment for months.
Remember the Dunkin' runs? The matching heart necklaces? It felt like every single day, without fail, a fresh set of high-res photos would drop showing them laughing, drinking iced coffee, or wearing masks. People called them "Benana." Some thought it was a PR stunt for their movie Deep Water. Others saw it as a genuine, whirlwind romance born out of a very strange time in human history.
Honestly, the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
The Spark on the Set of Deep Water
They met in late 2019 in New Orleans. They were filming a psychological thriller called Deep Water, playing a husband and wife in a twisted, toxic marriage. Director Adrian Lyne—the guy behind Fatal Attraction—later said their chemistry was instant. He actually tested them at his own house and noticed the "banter" immediately.
It wasn't just professional respect.
By the time they wrapped, they weren't just co-stars. In March 2020, just as the pandemic began to tighten its grip, they were spotted in Havana, Cuba. Ana was playing tour guide for Ben in her hometown. They hit up restaurants, took photos with fans, and Ben showed off his pretty decent Spanish. From there, they jetted to Costa Rica. The "secret" was out.
Then the lockdowns hit.
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Instead of being apart, they holed up together in Los Angeles. This is where the legend of the "pap stroll" truly began. While the rest of us were bread-baking and doom-scrolling, these two were out there every morning. Ben usually looked a bit disheveled with a handful of Dunkin' Donuts packages. Ana usually looked like she walked off a Vogue set. It was a bizarre, daily reality show that provided a much-needed distraction from the news.
Why Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck Actually Called It Quits
For a while, it looked serious. Like, "moving-in" serious. Ana was seen bringing stuff into Ben’s place in late 2020. She spent time with his kids—Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel. There was even a point where his kids put a life-sized cardboard cutout of her on the front lawn to prank the paparazzi.
But by January 2021, it was over.
The breakup was supposedly amicable, but the reasons were deeply practical. You've got to remember where they were in their lives. Ben is rooted in Los Angeles. His kids are there, his ex-wife Jennifer Garner is there, and his whole life is built around that co-parenting dynamic.
Ana, on the other hand, was a rising star who didn't want to be tied to LA. She later told Elle that the constant attention in California was "horrible" and "exhausting." There were also reports that she wanted to start a family of her own, while Ben, who already has three children, wasn't in that same headspace.
Basically, they hit a wall.
The most iconic image of the split wasn't a tearful goodbye. It was a photo of a man—originally thought to be Ben’s brother Casey, though he denied it—shoving that famous cardboard cutout of Ana into a trash bin outside Ben’s house.
Talk about a visual metaphor.
The Aftermath and What Most People Get Wrong
A lot of people assumed the whole relationship was a "contract" to promote Deep Water. That theory falls apart when you look at the timing. The movie's release was delayed multiple times due to the pandemic, finally landing on Hulu in 2022—long after they had broken up. If it was a PR stunt, it was a poorly timed one.
In hindsight, it looks more like a classic "pandemic relationship." They were stuck in a bubble. Everything was intensified because there were no external distractions. No red carpets, no travel for work, just 24/7 together time.
Today, they've both moved on to very different chapters.
- Ben Affleck eventually found his way back to Jennifer Lopez, leading to a high-profile marriage (and subsequent divorce news that dominated 2024 and 2025).
- Ana de Armas fled the LA scene for New York, found love with Tinder executive Paul Boukadakis, and solidified her A-list status with an Oscar nomination for Blonde.
Looking back at those 2020 photos now feels like looking at a time capsule. It was a specific moment of celebrity culture that couldn't happen at any other time.
What you should take away from the "Benana" era
If you're looking for the "hidden meaning" here, it's actually pretty simple. Even for the biggest stars in the world, life-stage compatibility matters more than "instant chemistry."
If you want to understand why celebrity relationships often fail during transition periods, look at the geography. When one person is tied to a city for family and the other is looking for global freedom, the ending is usually written on the wall before the first pap stroll even happens.
To see how their on-screen tension translated to real life, you can still stream Deep Water on Hulu. It’s a strange, sweaty movie that makes a lot more sense when you know the two leads were falling in love—and eventually apart—while the cameras were rolling.