Sofia Boutella

Sofia Boutella was born on April 3, 1982, in Bab El Oued, Algiers, Algeria, the daughter of jazz musician Safy Boutella and an architect mother. She began classical dance training at age five. In 1992, at the age of ten, she moved with her family to France amidst the Algerian Civil War. In France, she pursued rhythmic gymnastics, joining the French national team by age eighteen. Her dance background expanded to include hip-hop and street dance, becoming part of the Vagabond Crew, which won the Battle of the Year in 2006.

Boutella’s dance career gained significant momentum in 2007 when she was selected for Jamie King’s choreography in a Nike campaign, positioning her as a role model in hip-hop. This led to opportunities performing alongside Madonna, notably in her Confessions Tour and Sticky & Sweet Tour, and with Rihanna. She was also featured as the main character in Michael Jackson’s music video for “Hollywood Tonight” in 2011. After twelve years primarily as a dancer, Boutella transitioned into acting, initially seeking supporting roles to gain experience from established actors.

Her acting career began to flourish with her role as the assassin Gazelle in “Kingsman: The Secret Service” (2014), which was a turning point. She continued to secure prominent roles, including the alien warrior Jaylah in “Star Trek Beyond” (2016) and the titular character Princess Ahmanet in Universal’s “The Mummy” (2017). In the same year, she played an undercover French agent, Delphine Lasalle, in “Atomic Blonde” alongside Charlize Theron. Her career progressed with diverse roles in films like “Climax” (2018), “Fahrenheit 451” (2018), and “Hotel Artemis” (2018). More recently, she starred as Kora in Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon” duology (2023, 2024) and as Eve Mansour in the TV series “SAS: Rogue Heroes” (2022–2025).