Rebecca Ferguson was born Rebecca Louisa Ferguson Sundström in Stockholm, Sweden, and grew up in its Vasastaden district. Her father is Swedish, and her mother, Rosemary, is British, and moved from England to Sweden at the age of 25. Rebecca attended an English-speaking school in Sweden and was raised bilingual, speaking Swedish and English. As a ...
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Rebecca Ferguson was born Rebecca Louisa Ferguson Sundström in Stockholm, Sweden, and grew up in its Vasastaden district. Her father is Swedish, and her mother, Rosemary, is British, and moved from England to Sweden at the age of 25. Rebecca attended an English-speaking school in Sweden and was raised bilingual, speaking Swedish and English. As a student, she attended the Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm and graduated in 1999.She came into prominence with her breakout role of upper-class girl Anna Gripenhielm in the soap-opera Nya tider (1999), when she was 16 years old.She lives in the seaside town of Simrishamn, on the Swedish south coast. Ferguson has said she wanted to get away from city life and the public spotlight following her soap opera success. Swedish director Richard Hobert, spotted her at the town market in 2011, which led to her starring in his film En enkel till Antibes (2011).Ferguson taught Argentinian Tango at a dance company in Sweden for a few years.In 2013, Rebecca played Queen Elizabeth Woodville in the BBC historical drama The White Queen (2013), for which she got a Golden Globe nomination.In 2015, Ferguson played Ilsa Faust, the female lead in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015). Her co-star, Tom Cruise, chose her for the film after having seen her in the mini-series The White Queen (2013). Her performance in the movie was highly praised and Rebecca will reprise her role in the sixth Mission: Impossible film.In 2016, she starred in Despite the Falling Snow (2016), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and The Girl on the Train (2016).Her upcoming projects are Life (2017), The Snowman (2017), The Greatest Showman (2017), The Lady and the Panda (2017) and Mission: Impossible 6 (2018). Show less «
I've been very lucky to have strong women characters to play.
I've been very lucky to have strong women characters to play.
I need challenging roles. I look forward to reading a script where I call my agent and go, 'What the...Show more »
I need challenging roles. I look forward to reading a script where I call my agent and go, 'What the f**k are you thinking? Of course I can't do this!' I'd like to be uncomfortable and challenge that. Show less «
[on if she feels Swedish] I do. And I feel English as well which is why I like the combination when ...Show more »
[on if she feels Swedish] I do. And I feel English as well which is why I like the combination when I can do an English film and speak a bit of Swedish. It's a mish-mash. My mum's English and my father's Swedish. But I feel sort of French when I'm in France even though I have no connection to it! I think I remind myself of Ilsa [her character in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)] in that because I adapt and I think that's the world we live in as well - doors are more open now thank God. Show less «
[on her inspiration to play Ilsa Faust in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)] I looked at Ing...Show more »
[on her inspiration to play Ilsa Faust in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)] I looked at Ingrid Bergman a lot. There's a gracefulness there that I wanted to bring in. Mission is fast and action-packed and intense and modern, so to be able to balance that with the input of something classic-it's a beautiful mixture. Show less «
[on what inspired her to become an actress] I wasn't brought up in the acting world-my father is a l...Show more »
[on what inspired her to become an actress] I wasn't brought up in the acting world-my father is a lawyer. But as a teenager, I had the opportunity to audition for this television series: a daytime soap opera. And I got the lead part. I had just finished ninth grade in school, so I skipped what we called gymnasium and started working instead. And realized that this is a life I can see myself living. Show less «
At an early age, singing was something I found fun, but I never saw myself as a singer. My mother wa...Show more »
At an early age, singing was something I found fun, but I never saw myself as a singer. My mother was in the avant-garde of cultural life in Sweden. She actually helped to translate ABBA's 'Waterloo' from Swedish to English. Remember the woman sitting cross-legged on a chair on the album's cover? That was my mom with the band-and they were wearing her clothes. How cool is that? And she didn't save any of it. Show less «
[on doing her own stunts in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)] Jumping off a rooftop is one ...Show more »
[on doing her own stunts in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)] Jumping off a rooftop is one thing, but having your legs wrapped around Tom Cruise makes it a bit easier. Show less «
[on when she heard about the job in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)] I was on a camel! In ...Show more »
[on when she heard about the job in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)] I was on a camel! In the desert. In Ouarzazat [Morocco]. Filming The Red Tent (2014) for Lifetime. I had just popped over to London to meet Tom Cruise to see if the chemistry worked and 12 hours later I'm back on the camel, wrapping up production and I got a phone call. They say: 'You've got the next lead!' So I'll be back in Ouarzazat but on a motorbike! And there I was a month later. Show less «