A year ago today we weren’t yet talking about one of the most… comforting …gossip preoccupations of 2020: Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. They were happening already though and were seen in January of 2020 having dinner in New Orleans while working on Deep Water. It was in February when news first broke that they were together and, well, we all know the rest. 

 

In early December PEOPLE confirmed that Ben and Ana are indeed sharing a home, heading into their first Christmas together. It was quiet on the BenAna front over the holidays though. Then again, it’s quiet in LA, or at least it should be. Because of COVID, of course. Not sure if you’ve been following but the situation is very, very, VERY bad in California. Per CNN, “on November 1, the seven-day average for new daily cases in California was 4,183. On December 29, it was 31,245.” Much of the state is currently under stay-at-home orders. As for how that affects Hollywood, “SAG-AFTRA, the Joint Policy Committee and the Producers Guild of America on Sunday recommended a "temporary hold on in-person production amid the pandemic.” Like, the unions are encouraging their members to “refrain from accepting on-set employment for the next several weeks”. It’s not only to help curb the spread but also because it’s not safe in other ways: 

"Even putting aside the risk of acquiring COVID on set — a risk that we have done a great deal to mitigate through our safety protocols — on set production always poses some risk of injury, whether because of a stunt gone wrong, an equipment failure or a garden-variety fall.  Right now, with few if any hospital beds available, it is hard to understand how a worker injured on set is supposed to seek treatment," said David White, SAG-AFTRA's national executive director.”

 

And, really, that applies to all of us who are in places where daily new COVID cases remain high. Slip on some ice and twist your ankle or worse? Need stitches? There are no beds, there’s no space in the ER, and besides, you don’t want to be anywhere near a hospital right now if you don’t have to be. 

So with production stalled again in Hollywood, where so much content is produced, there’s even more pressure on the pipeline. Looking back at 2020, much of what was rolled out was already in post when lockdown first started in North America. But it’s been almost a year of either postponed or delayed or stalled output. What will that look like if/when it eventually reaches the consumer? 

Not that this is a priority at all and if you’re about to start yelling at me, I don’t mean that that should be anyone’s main concern, obviously. But this is an entertainment site – we cover entertainment news here, and with a lot of people spending so much and/or most of their time at home, and consuming more content than ever, this is a story to keep an eye on. 

 

To go back to Ben and Ana, it turns out it was quiet in part because Ana was in Cuba (where her family is) for the holidays…with a new haircut!

I can’t decide if I like it. You? 

Presumably before she left she’d have had to quarantine for two weeks. And if she’s back in LA, she’d be back in quarantine upon her return so it’s not likely we’ll see her until that’s passed. As for whether or not it means anything that she and Ben were apart for New Year’s Eve and she changed her hairstyle, she’s been seen wearing her Cartier love bracelet which Ben reportedly gave her for her birthday (thanks Anna!) so any speculation about any change in their status is probably, at this point, premature. 

Attached - Ana out in LA earlier in December.