The beloved John Wick franchise is about to get a new spin-off next month, and some roots from the movie shockingly trace back to New York City.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is set to launch in theaters on June 6, 2025, starring Ana de Armas as Rooney, a trained ballet assassin raised in the Ruska Roma underworld.
Before Ana de Armas steps into the role of the deadly ballerina assassin, the character quietly made her debut back in 2019—played by a real-life NYC ballerina.
Let’s dive into the original character and how we got here today.
Meet Unity Phelan, the real-life NYC ballerina
The lore of Rooney, the ballet assassin, goes further back than the 2025 film, and actually stems from John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum back in 2019.
And she was played by Unity Phelan, who isn’t a Hollywood regular—she’s a star of the real-life ballet world.
Phelan is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, one of the most prestigious dance companies in the entire world.
She’s known for her precision and grace, studying at the School of American Ballet before joining NYCB in 2013 and quickly rising through the ranks.
Her expressive style and commanding stage presence made her a natural fit for the mysterious ballerina role in Chapter 3.
Phelan’s role in John Wick 3
Phelan stars as one of the ballerinas at the Ruska Roma, a brutal training ground in New York City run by the Director (played by Anjelica Huston).
Disguised as a traditional ballet school, the Russian-linked ground is where Phelan can be seen practicing onstage in a dimly lit, almost gothic theater.
She performs an intense and technically sharp solo en pointe, with visible signs of bruising on her back—emphasizing the physical toll of the training.
And while there is no spoken dialogue from her, her memorable and dark performance introduced us to a character whose story was clearly just beginning.
Enter Ana de Armas, circa 2025
Now that character is getting her very own film.
Ballerina, due in 2025, stars Ana de Armas as the grown-up assassin.
The story is set to dive into her quest for vengeance, giving fans a deeper look into the John Wick universe from a fresh, female-driven perspective.
But it all began with Phelan—whose elegance made her the perfect prototype for a killer in the making!