Leading a new science fiction franchise isn’t easy, but Sofia Boutella is no stranger to taking charge of a character in a world like this. With Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, she’s finally leading her own franchise. It’s about time, and it is exciting to see her starring as Kora.
The Zack Snyder movie is an original science fiction story with Kora on a farming world called Veldt, when the Motherworld comes to disrupt the peace she’s found. What I find fascinating about Kora is the layers she has. The quiet, calm side of her we see in the beginning of the film is gone when she has to jump into action to save Sam (Charlotte Maggi), and seeing those layers in action is what makes her so interesting on screen.
In speaking with Sofia Boutella at the junket for the film in Los Angeles, she said it was one of the reasons loved playing Kora. “Anytime you get to create an arc is a joy, I think for an actor, at least for me,” Boutella said. “It was fun for me to not just play the badass character, but to have those colors to fall back onto, to come back from, to just evolve through. It’s a lot of fun.”
This also marks the first time that Boutella (who has played characters in science fiction franchises in the past, just not the lead character) is leading the franchise herself. When I asked her about taking that task on, she was excited for the challenge. “Just getting to play my first leading role is a very exciting for me,” she said. “And for it to be Zack, to be directed by Zack is such a blessing. He’s incredible. And it means a lot to me that this character was chosen to be played by a woman and for the circumstances to be complicated and relatable, it means a lot to me that I get to go into Zack’s brain. I felt just very extremely lucky. And also just having that professional experience that is rare to get at that scale. It’s the biggest movie I’ve ever been on. And itt means so much to me.”
You can see our full chat here:
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is on Netflix now.
(featured image: Netflix)
