Rebecca Ferguson is a Swedish-English actress who has quickly risen to prominence in Hollywood. She is known for her strong and independent characters and has been praised for her versatility and ability to bring complex characters to life. She began her acting career in Sweden, appearing in a number of television shows and films.
In 2010, she made her English-language debut in the film The White Queen. Ferguson’s breakthrough role came in 2015 when she starred in the film Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. She reprised her role as Ilsa Faust in the 2018 film Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and again in the recently released Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Rebecca Ferguson on Hollywood and the Mission: Impossible franchise
Rebecca Ferguson has starred in quite a few hit films, and has a reputation for playing headstrong, femme-female characters; like in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, where she played Ilsa Faust, a mysterious woman who is both a spy and an assassin. In The Girl on the Train, she played Rachel Watson, a woman who is struggling to cope with the aftermath of a traumatic event. And in Dune, she played Lady Jessica, a powerful woman who is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a religious order that is known for its mastery of both physical and mental abilities. In the recently released Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, she reprises her role as Faust.
In an interview with the folks at IndieWire, she was all praises for the Tom Cruise starrer Mission: Impossible franchise. Despite facing heavy critical backlash about doing badly on the Bechdel test, what with its minimal female character inclusion, etc; Ferguson is of the opinion contraire. She said,
“‘Mission’ is probably the one franchise that knows how to write storylines for women. They break things down; there’s not a lot of going into detail about what happened. You do not talk about it. There’s always reasons why arcs go a certain way. I control my own destiny, there are reasons why things happen.”
Since Ferguson’s choice of characters is often complex and challenging, she always brings them to life with passion and conviction; and enacts them diligently as ever. And if a character like Ilsa Faust’s is being tailor-made for you, you have to be one strong, powerful woman.
On being typecast as strong characters, and if it’s intentional
Ferguson is a versatile actress who has starred in films of various genres, including action, drama, and thrillers. She is also fluent in Swedish, English, and French, which has allowed her to work in a variety of international productions. Upon being asked about the strong characters she portrays in an interview with the folks at IANS, Ferguson said that though she doesn’t really go searching for “strong roles”, she considers herself fortunate that “men write incredible roles” for her. She added,
“It is funny because when I read a script, I don’t read it from that perspective. I don’t pick a role on that basis or go looking for strong women.”
“Maybe it means that the character has a purpose. I don’t think strength is only physical strength. I think being able to create a purpose for your character; I like the idea if you take a person out of the film then that film will have holes. And that is very important to me. Otherwise, there is no necessity of that person.”
Well, for what it’s worth, Ferguson is already on the rise in Hollywood, and she is sure to continue to be a strong force to be reckoned with, just like her characters.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is now in theaters near you.
Source: IndieWire
