‘Rebel Moon’ Actress Sofia Boutella: “There Are Not Enough Roles For Women — Roles, Period, And Interesting Roles”

Rebel Moon actress Sofia Boutella is the latest actress to claim that there are not enough acting roles for women in Hollywood.

In an interview with Vulture discussing her role as Kora in Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon films, she was asked, “When you talk about Kora, you do make it seem like she had uniquely deep emotions that you were excited to play. Did the role feel unique because you’re used to reading action scripts that don’t have that level of depth for female characters?”

Boutella responded, “I see too often in action film — whether characters are played by a man or a woman — that what’s appealing to an audience is that you just want to get rid of what’s going on internally so you can get to the action. They love seeing an explosion and something flying and something zipping and a laser, and we rush too quickly past what is leading us to this place. But for women even more.”

Next, she claimed there are not enough roles for women, “There are not enough roles for women — roles, period, and interesting roles. People are leading the fight, and they’re leading with their choices so that things do change. But a lot of the time, and still too often considering where we are, women are the vase to carry the flowers for a man.”

READ: Zack Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon’ Sees Viewership Plummet In Third Week, Gets Beat By Denzel Washington’s ‘The Equalizer 3’

When pressed about whether Hollywood is making meaningful change, Boutella replied, “If this was a few years ago, for Rebel Moon, they would have looked for a male-lead action character. Charlize Theron’s character on Netflix, The Old Guard — a project like that would have not happened if it wasn’t for people pointing out the imbalance and being loud about it.”

She continued, ” I’m sure if my great-grandmother were still alive, she would look at what we’re doing now and she’d be baffled and impressed and probably very proud. But to some of us, it’s moving too slow. For us, we’re still in the middle of it and we want it now. Sometimes I see the industry as saying, “Okay, we’re going to prove that change is being made, so we’re going to do all these projects.” And sometimes I look at them and the attention to detail wasn’t there as if it was a man.”

Boutella elaborated, “It is a man’s world. Look at how a man is filmed. For men, the camera punches in. For men, the camera lingers — the editing doesn’t cut away, and it pulls in tight in the eyes. For women, the cut is quick. I see it’s punching in — but then quickly it cuts before you actually get to where we’re supposed to be.”

” You could have come in here [Points at her eyes and her face]. That’s something, honestly, I haven’t heard people talk about,” she explains. “Yes, we want more characters for women that are strong in how they’re written. But then what you do with the camera and how you edit is also going to indicate something.”

She concluded, “I feel like the women are being done a disservice in the editing room. I’m like, This man wasn’t filmed that way. You stayed. You punched in. You went and looked for the emotion because you wanted me to really get it.”

READ: Zack Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon’ Performs Worse Than The Adam Sandler Animated Film ‘Leo’ And Michael Fassbender’s ‘The Killer’ On Netflix

Boutella reiterated this point when asked if it’s affected her, “I’ve seen it for me. Like, “Oh, maybe a close-up there would have been nice, or punching in on the eyes here, or lingering here longer.” But I see it more when I see other films. Like, F**k, look — the camera stays and stays and stays. But for women, we just cut on something really interesting that you deprived me of experiencing fully.”

“And it’s frustrating,” she added. “There’s way more love and attention that has been given to male characters than women. And that’s not just on the page. It’s in the edit.”

When asked if this was a problem with action movies or a wider problem, she said, “I think it’s more in action, but it’s an industrywide problem.”

“I feel like there are female directors and female actresses that have a say, and they’re able to stir it in the opposite direction and make a change. But it doesn’t come naturally,” she detailed.

READ: ‘Bridgerton’ Actress Phoebe Dynevor Claims There Are Not Enough Roles For Young Female Actors Compared To Young Male Actors

Actress Phoebe Dynevor made similar comments about the lack of acting roles for young female actors in an interview with the United Kingdom’s The Standard.

Dynevor said, “I have read some great scripts recently. And yeah,  probably shouldn’t be saying this, but there is still, like, not that many parts going. There is such a space for male actors… there are so many of them. And they’re all great. They’re all very talented young men, and they do not stop working, and good for them.”

However, she added, “But you know, when I think about the girls my age… there’s way more room for them and there is still not enough room for us. It’s a really good time for older women which is amazing and there’s a lot for these young men, but not a lot for the actresses that I know in my age bracket.”

In order to solve this problem, Dynevor says she will become a producer, “I eventually want to produce. I would like to create the material that I feel is missing. I don’t know when that will be, but it’s a dream of mine.”

What do you make of Boutella claiming there are not enough roles for female actors? What about her comments on the way action films shoot and edit scenes featuring female actors?

NEXT: ‘Rebel Moon’ Actress Sofia Boutella Explains How Negative Critic Reviews “Really Affected” Her