The Action Edition
Lights, camera, roundhouse kick to the head.
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If youve watched an action movie in the past decade, youve likely seen Sofia Boutellas face.
(Ironically, Leitch cast her in a non-action-heavy role opposite Charlize Theron inAtomic Blonde.
By then, shed squared off against Tom Cruise, Dave Bautista, and James McAvoy.
Her ability to dominate a frame with her body comes across even on Zoom.
And she can only hope her thoughtful physical characterization makes it into the final cut.
Yes, we want more characters for women that are strong in how theyre written, she says.
But then what you do with the camera and how you edit is also going to indicate something.
I feel like the women are being done a disservice in the editing room.
How did you get here?My dance background gave me everything.
I had never done any action beforeKingsman never done any martial arts or fight training.
it’s possible for you to go into costume.
Then he said, Wait a second.
Can you do a kick?
I said, I think.
I mean, its very much mental.
But it was never my goal to be an action person.
I never thought,This is what I want to do.
This is something I can do because Im facilitated by my dance background.
What was your goal?My desire to act started when I was 17.I booked a movie by chance.
I ended up in a casting because they were looking for dancers.
I always needed to defend something, to have an arc within my routines.
Who is this character?
What am I looking for here?
When I started acting, I thought,This is the same, but with less physicality.
On set when I rehearse my marks, I stand here, I turn here, do that.
This is all choreography, right?
There are words put to it, but it came from the same place.
It was like a variation of my artistry.
I saycine-philes.One of my favorite films isWings of Desire.
I love Wim Wenders.
I loveParis, Texas.
The kind of films that I like are not necessarily around the kind of career Ive had so far.
I dont take it for granted.
I love the action that Ive done; I just dont want to solely do that.
Hopefully as time goes on, Ill be able to steer it toward something psychologically more fulfilling.
But I give a shot to find that in my roles that are essentially about the action.
I had stopped dancing; the last time I danced was during the Super Bowl with Madonna.
Those two years were hard.
I could see that hes a very clever, intelligent director.
And I loved that the character Gazelle was sweet and a bit naive but lethal.
I wanted to find something sweet and cute.
He just brought me back forArgylle.
HelinkedArgyllewithKingsman, and I was like, Matthew, what are you doing?
So you audition forKingsmanand youre hired on the spot.
You go through all this training.
And Im like, No, I cant!
I could hit the dummy.
I could hit the cushion.
I found it really hard to just actually really venture to hit to hurt.
Do you feel like youre good at hitting stunt people now?No, I still find it hard.
On cut, I always go to the stunt guy and ask them if theyre okay.
I hate the thought of hurting somebody for real.
Youre holding the ax and the guy is going to grab it.
I should move away from characters who are operating from revenge.
When youre reading an action-movie script, what exactly makes a part intriguing to you?
What makes you think,I want to audition for this?
And what turns you off?I dont necessarily need to relate to my character.
I just need to understand whats between the lines.
When everything is on the page, you literally have to do nothing.
Thats the beauty of amazing writing.
What draws me away from a part is when I dont feel the heart.
This is just writing for the sake of writing.
I had that conversation with a friend of mine not too long ago.
What can I do with this?And that would be the challenge.
Knowing that the character is going to be physical or has these physical abilities?No, not necessarily.
I was reading the other day something that was very physical.
The character was a bit butch, strong, a very emasculating woman, right?
She probably has her demons, has her reasons to be the way she is.
But Im 50 pages in, and all I see is tough, tough, tough, tough.
Shes with a man, and its funny because she is stronger than him.
In my mind, Im like,They havent given me the heart yet.
I dont know whats going on.
I havent found her vulnerability.
I even tell myself, Lets say I take this part.
Lets say there is a tiny bit at the end.
Lets say theresnoteven a moment at the end.
Can I bring it and put it myself?
I cannot just play them in one dimension.
Are there characters youve played so far to whom you have added that vulnerability?
I think I did that forThe Mummy.
I didnt want to makeAhmanetmelodramatic.
I wasnt interested in playing a monster thats being revived, who just wants to destroy the world.
That was not good enough.
But that relationship with the father … being fed by emotions like abandonment and rejection.
Im like,Okay, then her being revived is a metaphor, right?
What has she not understood?
What has she notgonethrough to gain the wisdom to approach it differently?
The beauty of working with Zack is that he allowed me to go there.
I watch the film now, and Im like, [Sighs.]
Did I do too much?
Did I give a shot to make a meal out of it?
Like, how do you keep on living with yourself?
She has moments where she laughs.
But she carries a massive, massive guilt that needed to show.
But for women even more.
There are not enough roles for women roles, period, and interesting roles.
People are leading the fight, and theyre leading with their choices so that things do change.
But to some of us, its moving too slow.
For us, were still in the middle of it and we want it now.
And sometimes I look at them and the attention to detail wasnt there as if it was a man.
It is a mans world.
Look at how a man is filmed.
For men, the camera punches in.
For women, the cut is quick.
You could have come in here [Points at her eyes and her face].
Thats something, honestly, I havent heard people talk about.
Yes, we want more characters for women that are strong in how theyre written.
But then what you do with the camera and how you edit is also going to indicate something.
I feel like the women are being done a disservice in the editing room.
Im like,This man wasnt filmed that way.
You went and looked for the emotion because you wanted me to really get it.
Do you think that its affected you?Ive seen it for me.
But I see it more when I see other films.
Theres way more love and attention that has been given to male characters than women.
And thats not just on the page.
Its in the edit.
But it doesnt come naturally.
As youve pointed out, there is legitimate criticism of action-genre habits.
And Im just gonna be honest about it.
Not the way I look.
Its hard to see something being demolished to that extent.
Thats why I tookThe Killers Gamewith Dave Bautista.
I wanted to play a lighter note.
Id love to play something less intense because I know I can do intensity.
I know I can bring the drama to the surface.
Id love to play something a bit … just a human being.
Maybe something a bit more naive and giddy.
Ill find it when I read it.
Because thats also another aspect.
It was a bridge reverse that I would slide in on my back, and then pick myself up.
For action, I dont think so.
Maybe its the head the hair whip.
Just get there as fast as you’re able to knee slide!
So it cannot just be, Oh, a round kick is my signature move.
It can be anybodys signature move.
I havent found that yet.
