Zack Snyder’s first Rebel Moon movie is, well, doing exactly what you’d expect from a Zack Snyder movie as it’s wowing his devoted loyal followers and mystifying critics. It’s not just par for the course for the former DCEU director, though, as the film sees Snyder work with a new leading actor in the form of Sofia Boutella.
The Algerian actress, born April 1982, was already hanging around with mega-star names long before she was a familiar face herself, as the former dancer appeared in a ton of music videos in the 2000s alongside the likes of Madonna, Rihanna, and Michael Jackson. After a few, mostly dance-related, acting roles — e.g. 2012’s Street Dance 2 — Boutella started to make her own mark on Hollywood in the latter part of the 2010s.
Since then Boutella has used her dance background to become a contemporary action star, although she’s also showcased her more subtle talents in certain projects. Enjoyed her in Rebel Moon? Take a look at Sofia Boutella’s other best roles.
10. The Mummy (2017)
The notorious Tom Cruise reboot of The Mummy on a best-of list? Yes, you read that right. Although, to be fair, 2017’s infamous Universal monster movie is perhaps more accurately described as one of Boutella’s biggest films rather than one of her best. One of the smarter decisions the remake has going for it, perhaps the only one, is in switching the iconic Imhotep from earlier movies with a female villain, Boutella’s Ahmanet. In another universe, she returned opposite Johnny Depp’s Invisible Man and Javier Bardem’s Frankenstein in an Avengers-style team-up flick.
9. Rebel Moon Part One: A Child Of Fire
Unfortunately, Rebel Moon‘s opening chapter is earning the worst reviews of Zack Snyder’s career, but his hordes of adoring acolytes, who have presumably already sat through the entirety of his four-hour Justice League cut, aren’t going to abandon him now. The film also marks perhaps the most notable role in Boutella’s filmography to date and, whatever Snyder’s storytelling may lack, the actress’ physicality and presence as rebel warrior Kora can’t be faulted.
8. Modern Love
Boutella got to show another side of her acting skills in her guest appearance on romantic anthology series Modern Love, as her role didn’t rely on her action or dance prowess for once. In season 1 episode 5, Boutella stars as Yasmine opposite John Gallgher Jr. as Rob, a couple who end up in the hospital during their second date when Rob cuts his arm on a martini glass. The unorthodox date night ends up with the couple getting to know each other and opening up about their vulnerabilities more than they might’ve been expecting.
7. Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities
From one guest spot in an anthology show to another. Boutella is one of the many A-list actors who featured in Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, the Netflix series offering up eight tales of terror from some of the most acclaimed horror directors around. Boutella appeared in Panos Cosmatos’ blackly comic yet deeply unnerving “The Viewing,” which sees an eclectic bunch of eccentric individuals invited by a reclusive billionaire to view a very special item in his collection.
6. Fahrenheit 451 (2018)
By rights, this second screen adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s seminal book-burning novel should have, if you’ll forgive the pun, set audiences alight when it arrived a few years ago, thanks to its story of a dystopian America where knowledge and information is regulated being particularly timely in the Trump era. And yet, despite featuring the winning trio of Michael B. Jordan, Michael Shannon, and Boutella as its leads, Fahrenheit 451 failed to catch a spark when it aired as a TV movie on HBO.
5. Climax
Boutella’s two career paths were perfectly blended together in Climax, perhaps the most experimental entry in the performer’s filmography to date. This psychological horror follows a French dance troupe whose afterparty goes awry when their drinks are spiked with LSD, leading the group to turn against each other as they start to hallucinate and grow increasingly agitated and fearful. With the film shot in just 15 days and improvised by the cast as they went along, Climax is a gripping and shocking ride that’s home to Boutella’s rawest acting performance to date.
4. SAS: Rogue Heroes
All Steven Knight TV series are must-see for anyone who loves Peaky Blinders, so gritty WW2 drama SAS: Rogue Heroes should be right at the top of your watchlist. Joining a mostly male cast made up of upcoming British talent, like Jack O’Connell, Connor Swindells, and Alfie Allen, Boutella plays the show’s female lead, Eve Mansour, which dramatizes the real-life origins of the famed British Army special forces unit in 1941. One season has been released so far, but a second is on its way — and, good news, Boutella will be in it!
3. Atomic Blonde
On paper, Atomic Blonde had everything going for it. The one and only Charlize Theron playing a character pitched as a female James Bond in a movie directed by John Wick‘s David Leitch? Throw in Boutella as Theron’s love interest, shady French agent Delphine, a rare LGBTQ+ plotline in the spy movie genre, and this one seemed like it would be a classic of its kind. Sadly, for whatever reason, the final film doesn’t quite come together as it should’ve done but it’s still an action-packed blast.
2. Star Trek Beyond
Yes, before she was leading Zack Snyder’s own answer to the Star Wars universe, Boutella got to join the Star Trek universe proper in 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. The actress plays one of the most memorable original characters created for the Kelvin timeline movies — Jaylah, an alien engineering prodigy marooned on the planet Altamid who allies with the Enterprise crew to stop Idris Elba’s evil Kraal. Although her role was written with Jennifer Lawrence in mind (Jaylah = J-Law, geddit?), Boutella makes the part her own and it’s a shame she hasn’t been seen in the Trek-verse since.
1. Kingsman: The Secret Service
Your mileage may vary, but Sofia Boutella’s best ever movie might just be the one that gave the actress her big break. Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service is full of wonderful actors playing colorful characters, but the uber-cool and deadly Gazelle is among the most striking. The blade-legged assassin features in many of the most impressive action scenes in the spy flick, with Boutella proving herself a natural at the genre right out the gate. It’s no surprise she’s reuniting with Vaughn for an unknown role in his next spy caper, Argylle, releasing Feb 2., 2024.
