Rebel Moon Star Sofia Boutella Found A Personal Connection With Her Character

If there's one streaming movie this year that screams "blockbuster potential," it's "Rebel Moon." Zack Snyder's sci-fi epic has not only been years in the making, but it's also already earned a sequel. In a crowded streaming landscape, it's tough to tell ahead of time which Netflix Originals will flop, which will bring in plenty of viewers yet leave a light cultural footprint, and which will become a genuine phenomenon.

But it seems like if any Netflix movie is going to make a big impression these days, it's "Rebel Moon." The sci-fi movie evolved out of an idea Snyder had for a "Star Wars" film a full decade ago, but by this point, it's its own story. "Rebel Moon" is set to follow a young woman named Kora (Sofia Boutella, "Atomic Blonde") who searches for warriors to help stand up against the forces of a villainous ruler named Regent Balisarius (per Tudum). The "Star Wars" meets "Seven Samurai" plotline is tied together by Kora, who has a mysterious backstory to match her mysterious hero cape.

Before the SAG-AFTRA and WGA writers' strikes began, /Film was able to attend a set visit for "Rebel Moon," where Algerian actress Boutella spoke about her connection to Kora and her ability to relate to a character who perhaps feels displaced. "I think there was a lot of stuff that I could relate to, for myself," she explained. She continues:

"I was born in Algeria and I never — Kora is found on another planet that's not her home, she was abducted. I was not abducted, but my roots are not necessarily where I live and not where I grew up and not where I was born, and I can relate to that."

In 2017, Boutella told GQ that she moved to France after the Algerian Civil War began when she was 9 years old. "You would have a bomb exploding every once in a while," she shared, recalling that she and her family could only collect water for a few hours every week and were subject to food shortages. While we don't know the full extent of Kora's backstory and the circumstances surrounding her abduction yet, the political situation in "Rebel Moon" seems to be quite authoritarian, so it's likely her life has been touched by war or oppression.

When speaking about her own roots and the character's displacement, Boutella says, "There is a sense of freedom to that aspect, but also a sense of, home is everywhere but not specifically somewhere. That was very relatable for me." She also says her experiences as a child in Algeria helped her tap into the character. "Not to be dramatic, but there was a civil war growing up in my country," she shared during /Film's set visit, "and not that it was as dangerous as an actual war, but I grew up in that environment." Though Boutella's family relocated in 1992, the Algerian Civil War would ultimately wage on for over a decade, claiming as many as 200,000 civilian lives (according to NPR). As Boutella put it, "It's lodged somewhere in me, and I felt that, 'Okay, I think I can do that [role].'"

As somber as the actor's connection to the film's script may be, "Rebel Moon" is set to be an entertaining, action-packed space epic. In a video for Netflix's Geeked Week in 2022, Boutella joined Snyder to hype the movie, revealing that she trained for months to shoot the film and saying, "We have an amazing cast, exciting costumes and makeup, and characters that you won't believe you're looking at." We'll believe it when we finally see it this Christmas: "Rebel Moon" is set to hit Netflix on December 22, 2023.