Sofia Boutella

Biography

Sofia Boutella (born April 3, 1982) is an Algerian dancer, model, and actress. She is known mainly for her hip-hop and street dance, and for appearing in Nike Women's advertising campaigns. Boutella has starred as Gazelle in Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015), an alien warrior named Jaylah in Star Trek Beyond (2016), and the main antagonist, Princess Ahmanet, in Universal's Dark Universe film The Mummy. Also in 2017, she starred alongside Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde, the film adaptation of the graphic novel The Coldest City, as undercover French agent Delphine Lasalle.

Sofia Boutella was born in the Bab El Oued district of Algiers, Algeria, to an architect mother and a jazz musician father, Safy Boutella. Her brother, Seif, works as a visual effects artist in the entertainment industry. Her surname means 'the men of the mountains'. She was raised in a fairly secular household that cultivated artistic expression and creativity. In 1992, at the age of 10, she left Algeria with her family in the midst of the Algerian Civil War and moved to France. Shortly thereafter, she started rhythmic gymnastics, joining the French national team at age 18.