Sci-fi fans are in for a treat when “Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child Of Fire” debuts on Netflix this week. It’s a brand new world created by Zack Snyder, that gives off major “Star Wars” vibes. The story follows Kora, a mysterious woman who crashes on a moon in the furthest reaches of the universe but now has to defend the peaceful villagers who took her in from the tyrannical Imperium.
In a recent interview, lead cast Sofia Boutella and Ed Skrein talk about their respective roles of Kora and Admiral Noble, what drew them to this huge project and their working experience with Zack Snyder. While Kora is hero, seeking her redemption story, Atticus Noble – on the other hand – is a vicious villain.
“Honestly, it was the idea of working with Zack. After I sent in my audition tape, I sat with him for three hours and he described his vision for both films from beginning to end. I was thrilled by how excited and knowledgeable he was about this story he’s been writing for 20 years. There wasn’t a single question he left unanswered. I love working with people who absolutely love what they’re doing, and Zack is definitely one of them,” Sofia Boutella recalled.
She continued, “He tries to include you in everything he knows, which makes my job as an actor easy. Sometimes, when we’d show up on a set with a green screen, he’d grab a pen and paper and draw everything that was supposed to be around us and tell us the story behind each element, not leaving any detail unspoken. It’s a dream to work with someone like that.”
For Ed Skrein, this was a role of a lifetime. “As soon as I read the script and came across Noble, I just thought, what an opportunity. What a character, what an arc. To play the antagonist is often to be underserved from a narrative point of view. The focus is usually on the protagonist. It’s why we see so many 2D villains and why they can be quite basic. This is not that. This is the character of the piece for me. It was a mouth-watering proposition. It takes a lot for me to leave my family and my community in London for such a long extended period of time. Atticus Noble is the character of a career to step into.”
It was a little different for Sofia though. The actress explains, “There are some aspects about Kora I don’t think I can ever relate to, but others I absolutely understand — like leaving your birth land, living in another world, and then having to start fresh and feeling like you don’t belong completely. That’s her journey as well as mine. I was born in Algeria and I moved to France when I was 10, and then I moved again to L.A. when I was in my early 20s. I don’t feel like I completely belong to any geographical space, per se, but at the same time, it’s easy for me to adapt. I wasn’t a soldier, but I grew up during a civil war in Algeria, and we left because our lives were in danger. So, when it comes to the fear Kora feels, and the idea of defending a place that feels like home, I know where that emotion comes from.”
When it comes to working with this A-list cast, Sofia added, “In the film, we’re recruiting people from all over the universe, and that’s reflected in the cast. Every actor is pretty much from a different place in the world, and we all created such a deep bond. Going through this together, it’s difficult to not get close to people that you share such an intense experience with. They’re all such incredible, talented actors, and I felt very lucky to be a part of that.”
The same can be said for their director. “Zack is one of us. He’s not Spider-Man, but he’s up there. He’s a man of the people. He’s there talking with every single person in the crew. So the respect and time he gives everybody means that everyone would run through brick walls for him. We’d all run a million miles for him. This shoot has been one of the hardest, most demanding shoots I’ve ever done. But if Zack calls me, I’m back again in a flash. When he gave me the part, he didn’t say, ‘This is how you’re going to do it. Do this way or that way.’ He wants you to bring it to life. He needs us to bring ourselves to it,” Ed was quoted as saying.
Watch the trailer here:
“Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child Of Fire” is premiering on Netflix on 22nd December 2023.
