Yahoo Lifestyle Sofia Boutella shares how she got here
There are few actresses with a career quite as diverse as that of Sofia Boutella.
The French-Algerian performer started out as a dancer in Paris, where she lived as a young girl after leaving her home country of Algeria during the civil war. Then, she travelled the world as a backing dancer on tour for the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson. But soon, Hollywood called, and Boutella swapped stage for screen.
Since then, she has starred in everything from The Mummy to Star Trek and Rebel Moon and has worked with the likes of Tom Cruise and Zack Snyder. “I didn’t think I’d be in big, commercial movies,” she says. “I just loved acting, so didn’t care how big or small the project was.”
Now, she’s set to feature in Steven Knight’s hit series, SAS: Rogue Heroes, alongside Connor Swindells, Jack O’ Connor and Dominic West. In season two of the BBC show, she plays the military leader Eve Mansour, with the latest instalment of the compelling drama seeing troops turn to conflict in Europe.
Here, she tells Harper’s Bazaar about the challenges of her industry, the project that changed her life, and her definition of success.
“My first ever job was…
... Dancing. I must have been around 16, and it was a small performance on stage in Paris’ 15thArrondissement, near to where I lived then. It didn’t feel like a job because I was doing what I had loved since I was four years old; I was just getting paid for it.”
“My first role was…
... Samia in Dance Challenge. The choreographer, Blanca Li, was casting dancers in Paris, so I was called. I was then offered the role, and I just loved the experience. After that, I decided to take acting classes and join a theatre group in Paris. Prior to booking that movie at around 17, I felt that I had always performed dance through a place of narrative; in that movie, I was able to explore another aspect of where I was dancing from.”
“My role models growing up were…
... my parents. Then, artists like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Michael Jackson. I’ve never had one role model but have felt guided and inspired by people from different mediums.”
“The project that changed my life was...
... Nike. It was a commercial and the creative director, Jamie King, cast me when I was around 20 years old. He was also Madonna’s stage director so, from that opportunity, he plucked me out and invited me on tour as a backing dancer for her. He played an important role in the trajectory of my career and life; after that, I moved to Los Angeles and changed my life completely.”
“The role I am the proudest of is…
... Climax. Everything about that movie was extremely engaging, artistic and creative. We didn’t have a script, and we shot it in 15 days. It’s the project I got paid the least for but got so much out of in return, both creatively and artistically. It inspired me tremendously and truly challenged me. The result, I think, is incredible, because it’s a visceral movie that truly makes you feel something.”
“The unexpected curveball of my career was…
... Kingsman. I did not know where my career would go at that point, and I had stopped dancing by then. I didn’t think I’d be in big, commercial movies and huge franchises as I just loved acting, so didn’t care how big or small the project was. [Another curveball was] meeting and learning from Madonna in my years of being on tour with her. She inspires me so much.”
“I was drawn to SAS: Rogue Heroes because…
... I had never done a period piece and playing a woman with a profession like this was inspiring to me. I was drawn to everything – from the styling and history to the writing from Steven Knight. The scripts are such page-turners. I come from a military family – my grandfather was a colonel – so I felt somewhat connected to the story, as I also experienced Algeria during the civil war.
"While my character is not a real person, she is based on real female spies and she was originally going to be French, but they changed her to be French-Algerian, like me. I also learned from my father that my grandmother was a spy during the war and she would report back on conversations she heard at dinners she would go to. She became a big inspiration for me to play Eve.”
“What attracts me to roles is...
... relatability. There’s seven billion of us in the world and we enjoy movies because we can see ourselves in them and feel inspired. I’m drawn to stories that deserve to be told or relationships that are worth exploring. I want to feel inspired and connected when I read a script.”
“The toughest part about being in my industry is…
... the time in-between. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve achieved, how much recognition you’ve gained or how famous you are, those pockets of time leave you questioning if it’s all over. It’s such an ephemeral profession – the highs are so high, and the lows are so low – so it’s interesting to experience a place of stillness.
"You begin to think, ‘Am I going to work again?’ ‘Will I find something as good as my previous project?’ It’s quite stressful, but at the same time, there’s an appeal to it.”
“I define success by…
... being able to do what is in your heart and create what you’re inspired by. It's not necessarily how much money you make, how successful your project is or if you’ve won an Oscar. For me, success is the ability to achieve the things that you truly want to do and doing everything in your power to make it happen.”
SAS Rogue Heroes series two is available in full on BBC iPlayer from 6am on New Year’s Day, and airs on BBC One from 9pm that night. Catch up with series one on BBC iPlayer now.
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