Sofia Boutella (born April 3, 1982 in Bab El Oued, Algeria) is an Algerian-French dancer and actress.
She's the daughter of Algerian composer Safy Boutella. The family moved to France when she was 12. She practiced rhythmic gymnastics then turned to Hip-Hop and street dance. Sportswear brand Nike noticed her and prominently featured her in their Women's advertising campaigns. She also ended up one of the dancers of Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour in 2008-2009.
She has been acting on film and television since age 17, mostly in small roles, until her big break in that field with the role of Gazelle in Kingsman: The Secret Service, and she's taken on roles of increasing prominence since.
Her brother Azad Boutella and her cousin Shirine Boutella are also actors.
Works with TV Tropes pages:
- StreetDance 2 (2012) as Eva
- Monsters: Dark Continent (2014) as Ara
- Kingsman as Gazelle
- Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
- Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017, flashback)
- Star Trek Beyond (2016) as Jaylah
- The Mummy (2017) as Princess Ahmanet
- Atomic Blonde (2017) as Delphine Lasalle
- Fahrenheit 451 (2018) as Clarisse
- Hotel Artemis (2018) as Nice
- Climax (2018) as Selva
- Modern Love (2019) as Yasmine
- Life on Mars / Settlers (2021) as Ilsa
- Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022) as Dr. Zahra
- SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022) as Eve Mansour
- Rebel Moon (2023-2024) as Kora
- Argylle (2024) as Saba Al-Badr
Tropes & Trivia in her works:
- Action Girl: Her action roles include Gazelle, Jaylah, Princess Ahmanet, and Kora.
- Ms. Fanservice: Her roles in The Mummy, Atomic Blonde, and SAS: Rogue Heroes show off her beauty, especially the latter two with sex scenes.
- Older Than They Look: Like a lot of trained dancers, she's managed to maintain her youthful looks despite being in her 40s.
- Star-Making Role: Her big break in acting was The Dragon Gazelle in Kingsman: The Secret Service.
- What Could Have Been: Michael Jackson himself wanted Boutella to be part of his "This Is It" tour in 2009, but she declined due to the extension of the Madonna tour she danced in. Then the King of Pop died and the "This Is It" tour died with him. As a tribute, Sofia played the main character in the music video for "Hollywood Tonight", one of Jackson's songs that was released posthumously.
