Noomi Rapace will be playing septuplet sisters in the upcoming sci-fi drama, What Happened to Monday?

Rapace will play the seven sisters who are struggling to hide in an overpopulated world whose one-child policy trumps siblings. The film will be directed by Tommy Wirkola and is based on Max Botkin’s Black List script.

While the role is certainly an exciting and meaty opportunity for Rapace, what makes it even more interesting is that it was originally written for a male lead. Wirkola commented on the gender switch of the role for Rapace.

Although the role was originally written for a male, I was struck by the complexities of having an actor portray seven characters and immediately knew
Noomi was the ideal actor — male or female — to bring them to life.

Both the sci-fi and horror genres have had exceptional female roles and with the success and discussion of Sandra Bullock’s Oscar buzzy turn in Gravity, hopefully more genre fare will be open to pursuing female leads.

Rapace will next be seen in Animal Rescue and Child 44 — both slated for 2014 releases.