Some actors are around longer than people think before they really get their big break. For some people Sofia Boutella might not have been seen as someone really worth the effort of getting to know until she was featured in Kingsman: The Secret Service, but she’s been around longer than that and has perhaps been prepping for bigger roles during the years when a lot of people still didn’t know about her. Of course given that she was twenty years younger when she first started out it could be that she hadn’t really impressed the right people yet, or that she hadn’t found the right role. As it stands some people would say that she still hasn’t but it’s important to look objectively at the movies she’s been in since she’s played her parts beautifully, it’s either the critics or the movies that have been dropping the ball.
Here are a few things that some folks might not have known about her.
1. She was in the remake of The Mummy.
The hype for this film was something that made people think it was going to be something worth watching, and if it had all ridden on Sofia’s performance as well as Tom Cruises’ it might have been okay. But something about adding in Jekyll and Hyde was a little, wonky.
2. She was offered a spot by Michael Jackson on his This Is It tour.
Unfortunately he passed away before the tour could kick off and she didn’t get to perform with him, but she did manage to get in on the video that was created after his passing. She did get to perform with Madonna at one point.
3. She was in Kingsman: The Secret Service.
In the long history of evil minions with undeniably deadly physical attributes Gazelle is one of those that you can’t help but be impressed by since walking on those legs would be hard enough to accomplish, but becoming proficient with them in a fight would be something else.
4. She was part of a hip hop dance crew at one point.
It would seem that Sofia has had an aptitude for dance and moving her body in various ways has been something she’s been good at for some time and has developed a knack for. Her group even won an award at one point they were so skilled.
5. She was in Atomic Blonde.
She’s a rather versatile actress that can play various roles but seems to be best when she’s given leave to just act out the character the best way she knows how. As of now she’s one of the better up and coming actors in the business since she still has a lot of potential left untapped.
6. She’s 36 years old.
Sofia isn’t a young woman but she’s not over the hill either since she is still able to take on roles that might be much younger than she is and thereby allow her to appear as someone that is not reaching towards her 40s at this point.
7. She was in Star Trek: Beyond.
So far this has been panned by many as one of the worst Star Trek movies ever since it seemed to reach for the stars only to come crashing down in a big hurry. But Jaylah was at least an interesting character that was new to the franchise and brought some hope of keeping it fresh enough to work.
8. She’s been in dance and rhythmic gymnastics.
There’s a reason why she’s so adept at moving her body and is able to appear so graceful and effortless in her movements. She’s been in classical dance since the age of 5 and rhythmic gymnastics is basically what you see on TV from time to time when the athletes are competing on the mats, flipping, dancing, and executing moves that seem impossible at times but are highly impressive.
9. Fred Astaire and Daniel Day-Lewis are two of her main inspirations.
Dancing, acting, and stepping into a role so deeply that she becomes that person seems to be the indication of what she’s getting at when she states that these two actors are among her inspirations. She’s managed so far to convince us all that she can move and that she’s quite the expert at manipulating her body in a way that many others couldn’t possibly match, but so far getting into the character seems to be coming along, though she has done fairly well thus far.
10. Her career started in 1998.
So quite honestly she’s been around longer than a lot of people might think but she hasn’t been a breakout star for that many years. She hit her stride with a couple of movies and since then has been a part of the Hollywood elite that has been on the rise.
11. Born In Algiers
Boutella was born in Algiers. In short, Algiers is the capital of Algeria, which can trace its origins to one of the numerous Phoenician colonies that were planted throughout the Mediterranean. Nowadays, the older part of the city can be found on a steep hill, while its more modern counterpart is situated much, much closer to the sea.
12. Born in Bab el Oued
In particular, it is worth noting that Boutella was born in the Bab el Oued neighborhood. Under French rule, said neighborhood served as the main home of the poorer Pied-Noirs in the city, which played a part in it becoming the stronghold of the French paramilitary group called the Organisation Armée Secrète towards the end of the Algerian War of Independence. With that said, other people might know the neighborhood’s name because it became a stronghold of the Islamic Salvation Front in the lead-up to the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s and early 2000s.
13. Has Rehearsed with Blanca Li
Boutella has rehearsed with Blanca Li, who is a very well-known Spanish choreographer. In short, Li is a prolific artist who doesn’t draw inspiration from a single source but instead prefers to combine influences from a wide range of styles. Besides Boutella, Li has worked with everyone from Beyonce and Paul McCartney to Kanye West.
14. In Fahrenheit 451
In 2018, Boutella was in the TV movie Fahrenheit 451, which was based on the Ray Bradbury book of the same name. For those who are unfamiliar, it envisions a dystopian future in which people called “firemen” are responsible for burning literature lest citizens get wrong ideas by reading them. Boutella played an informant who convinces the main character played by Michael B. Jordan to change his mind by telling him some of the true history of the United States.
15. In Climax
Besides Fahrenheit 451, Boutella was in Climax as well, which is very curious because it is an experimental movie that combines the dance genre with the psychological horror genre. In short, the members of a dance troupe throw an after-party but start to suspect that someone has put LSD in their sangria when they become more and more agitated for no apparent reason. The movie is based on the story of a real French dance troupe that believed that their drinks were laced with LSD, but it should be mentioned that the movie characters meet with a much more unpleasant fate than their real life counterparts.
16. In Nice
Finally, Boutella was in a dystopian thriller called Nice in 2018 as well. In it, she played the part of an international assassin named “Nice,” whose fate is unknown because of her remaining behind to cover the other characters’ escape but is hinted to have survived because of a mid-credits scene.
17. Was in Azur & Asmar
With that said, Boutella has been in a lot of movies that fall under the wide-encompassing umbrella of speculative fiction. For instance, she had a role in the 2006 computer-animated movie Azur & Asmar: The Princes’ Quest, which saw two one-time friends seeking to marry a djinn-fairy. It is interesting to note that the movie was a collaborative effort between parties from four European countries.
18. Was in Monsters: Dark Continent
Speaking of which, Boutella was in Monsters: Dark Continent, which was a follow-up to the British sci-fi monster movie Monsters. Suffice to say that the movie is set in a world in which a falling satellite brought some extraterrestrial lifeforms back to the Earth with rather unpleasant consequences.
19. Has Been in a Lot of Music Videos
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Boutella has been in a lot of music videos. For instance, 2018 saw her appearing in a Thirty Seconds to Mars video called “Rescue Me.” With that said, it is clear that she hasn’t appeared in the same number of videos in recent years compared to the more distant past, as shown by how she appeared in a single music video from 2011 to 2017.
20. Her Parents Are a Jazz Musician and an Architect
One can’t help but wonder if both of Boutella’s parents had an artistic influence on her. After all, her father is a jazz pianist who composes music as well, while her mother is an architect, which might not seem particularly artistic on initial considerations but nonetheless makes use of a lot of the same skills.
