"I always treat fight scenes like choreography," reveals Hotel Artemis star Sofia Boutella

 Hotel Artemis, the tale of a members-only hospital for those on the wrong side of law, is in movie theaters now, and our sister publication SFX magazine has an interview with one of its standout stars. Sofia Boutella plays Nice, a contract killer. 

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She explained to SFX that she sees fight scenes - you might remember her recent bust-up with Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde - like a dance. 

"I always treat fight scenes like choreography - thinking of it as dance choreography was the best way of learning for me," she says. "But they’re different because one is very much trying to survive, while the other is trying to express something. I think when you fight you have to tap into colors which don’t exist when you’re dancing."

Boutella also revealed a little of how she prepared for her role as Nice. "Drew [Pearce, writer and director] mentioned that he wanted her to be a femme fatale, so I was going to have to gain an extra confidence, an arrogance, because she’s sure of herself, and she should be because she’s really good at her job and she kills important people. The clothes helped a lot, and then I pushed my accent to be a bit more French. I like diving into myself and embodying a character as much as I can."

The movie also stars Sterling K. Brown, Jeff Goldblum, Jenny Slate, and Jodie Foster as 'the Nurse' who runs the Hotel Artemis. 

"She’s one of my favorite actresses," says Boutella of Foster. "I loved her in The Accused and Silence of the Lambs, I grew up watching her. She used to come to France and do interviews in French, and I remember being blown away by her French and her accent."

For more on Hotel Artemis, pick up the latest issue of SFX Magazine, on sale now.