Actress Sofia Boutella might seem like a newcomer, with her eerie turn as Princess Ahmanet in
the 2017 reboot of The Mummy launching her into the Hollywood mainstream.
But the Algerian-French actress has actually been working her way into the limelight for
years, and has amassed a number of credits that may make her face familiar to Mummy-watchers
across the world.
Here's where you might've seen Boutella before.
Those Nike ads
Boutella started her career in the arts as a dancer and was known for her choreography
skills, particularly in the hip-hop genre.
She achieved a commercial breakthrough in the mid-aughts when she starred in a series
of "Make Yourself"-themed advertisements for Nike.
That exposure would wind up landing her backup dancing gigs with artists like Madonna, who
kept her touring for the better part of a decade.
"And then I started dancing with her and, uh, she gave me a pair of heels for the first
time asking me if I ever danced in heels and I said 'No' and she said 'There's a beginning
for everything.'"
Michael Jackson
Boutella's work with Madonna brought her to the attention of the biggest pop star in the
world, Michael Jackson, who offered her a chance to star in his This Is It concert series.
She told Dancing Times, "I spoke to [Jackson] on the phone.
He called me, he said, 'You're an amazing dancer.
God bless you.
I really want you on my show.
And I said, 'I will do my best.'
Then I was on the phone to his stage director, Kenny Ortega, and he told me: 'When you're
done with Madonna, come and join us,' and I said, 'OK, I will.'
And then he passed."
Although she never got to share the stage with the King of Pop, she did have the chance
to collaborate with the singer posthumously, when she starred as the lead in the music
video for his single "Hollywood Tonight."
StreetDance 2
In 2012, Boutella made the jump to movies with the film StreetDance 2.
She played a dancer named Eva, who specializes in the tango and salsa—something Boutella
didn't have much experience with.
But she still felt a kindred spirit with her character.
She told All Street Dance, "Eva is a Latin dancer, and she is totally abandoning herself
with those hip-hop dancers … she is giving herself this chance for this alternative,
to learn something else, to learn something that is completely different and give herself
to this world that she's not used to, and she's taking risks.
… I think this is something I can recognize of myself.
Not with hip-hop or Latin dance, but with life … I see things, and I want to go there,
even if it costs something because you're letting go of something that you know so much."
Indeed, Boutella would eventually set aside her ambitions as a dancer to pursue her screen
career.
Kingsman: The Secret Service
In Matthew Vaughn's 2014 hit Kingsman: The Secret Service, Boutella starred as Gazelle,
a role that was originally written for a man.
But when Vaughn got a look at Boutella's Nike ads, he decided to redesign the characters.
"I thought, you know what, we can make this quite sexy and stylish and if you've got blades
like that, you don't have to be strong.
You just have to be agile and precise, which she was."
Kingsman was Boutella's first big Hollywood production, an experience she described as
surreal.
"When I arrived and I see Sam Jackson and Mark Hamill here on set, it was my first day
shooting and I couldn't believe I was there.
But yet I had to focus and do all of the work, you know."
Star Trek Beyond
In the 2016 sci-fi blockbuster Star Trek Beyond, the third installment to the rebooted Star
Trek film series, Boutella starred as Jaylah, a character that was famously inspired by
Jennifer Lawrence.
Although Boutella would hardly be recognizable beneath her thick facial prosthetics, she'd
make a more personality-oriented mark on the character's development.
"Jaylah has this sense of innocence but also this quality of strength that is not manufactured."
Boutella's choreography skills came in handy during her many fight scenes, earning her
the respect of co-stars like Simon Pegg, who described her as "the real deal."
"She comes from a very strong race of aliens.
Physically, extremely strong."
"She's incredibly tough, independent, resourceful..."
"You help me, and I help you."
Atomic Blonde
Film stardom may not have been her first ambition, but Sofia Boutella is moving at warp speed
now.
In addition to landing a pivotal role in The Mummy, she also snagged the part of a French
spy named Delphine in the action flick Atomic Blonde opposite Oscar winner Charlize Theron.
Boutella described her love scenes with Theron as "very technical," telling USA Today, "It's
not as glamorous as you think … You want it all to translate in the film, so that it's
very hot and steamy."
Boutella's Atomic Blonde work should only increase her exposure to a quickly growing
audience—and without requiring her to wreak undead havoc, too.
While her Mummy character is a core component of Universal's Dark Universe, Sofia Boutella's
star looks nothing but bright.
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