Rebecca Ferguson

Rebecca Louisa Ferguson Sundström (born 19 October 1983) is a Swedish actress. She began her acting career with the Swedish soap opera Nya tider (1999–2000) and went on to star in the slasher film Drowning Ghost (2004). She came to international prominence with her portrayal of Elizabeth Woodville in the British drama The White Queen (2013), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film.

Ferguson starred as MI6 agent Ilsa Faust, opposite Tom Cruise, in three of the Mission: Impossible films: Rogue Nation (2015), Fallout (2018), and Dead Reckoning Part One (2023). She played Jenny Lind in the musical film The Greatest Showman (2017), starred in the horror films Life (2017) and Doctor Sleep (2019), and had supporting parts in the comedy-drama Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), the thriller The Girl on the Train (2016), and the science fiction films Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024). In 2023, she began starring in the Apple TV+ science fiction series Silo.

Early life and education
Ferguson was born in Stockholm and grew up in the Vasastan district in central Stockholm. Her mother, Rosemary Ferguson, is English, and moved from Britain to Sweden at the age of 25. Her mother helped ABBA translate the lyrics from their 1974 album Waterloo into English and also appeared on the sleeve of the band's 1975 self-titled album. Her father, Olov Sundström, is a Swedish businessman. Ferguson took her mother's surname as her stage name. Her maternal grandmother is Northern Irish, and her maternal grandfather is Scottish.

Ferguson attended an English-medium school in Sweden and was raised bilingual, speaking Swedish and English. She attended the Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm and graduated in 1999.

From the age of 13, she worked as a model and appeared in magazines and on television commercials for cosmetic, apparel, and jewellery advertisements. Ferguson has danced from a very early age; she danced ballet, tap-dancing, jazz, street funk and tango. She taught Argentine tango at a dance company in Lund, Sweden for a few years while she continued her work on several short art film projects. Unsure if she wanted to act, Ferguson had other jobs, such as working at a daycare centre, as a nanny, at a jewellery shop, at a shoe shop and at a Korean restaurant.

Career
Ferguson came to prominence as upper-class girl Anna Gripenhielm in the Swedish soap opera Nya tider (1999–2000). She went on to later play Chrissy Eriksson in the Swedish-American soap Ocean Ave. (2002). In 2004, she made her feature film debut in Mikael Håfström's horror film Drowning Ghost and later had a guest role in Wallander (2008). Swedish director Richard Hobert spotted her at the Simrishamn town market in 2011, which led to her starring in his film A One-way Trip to Antibes, which earned her a nomination for the Rising Star award at the Stockholm International Film Festival. In 2013, she co-starred in the film VI alongside Gustaf Skarsgård.

In August 2012, it was announced Ferguson had been cast to play Elizabeth Woodville in the ten-part BBC historical television drama The White Queen (2013), based on Philippa Gregory's The Cousins' War novels about the women of the Wars of the Roses. Ferguson's performance in The White Queen was met with critical praise, and earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film.

In 2015, Ferguson gained wider recognition for her portrayal of MI6 agent Ilsa Faust, the female lead in the fifth Mission: Impossible film, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, for which she received critical acclaim. Tom Cruise handpicked Ferguson to star opposite him in the film after watching her in The White Queen and noticing a resemblance between Ferguson and Ingrid Bergman. She reprised her role in the sixth Mission: Impossible film, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, released in 2018–her biggest commercial success, grossing over $790 million worldwide –and reprised it again in the seventh film, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, in 2023.

In 2016, she played the dual roles of Katya and Lauren in the Cold War espionage thriller directed by Shamim Sarif, Despite the Falling Snow, opposite Sam Reid and Charles Dance. For her performance in the film, she won the Best Actress award at the 2016 Prague Independent Film Festival. Later that same year, Ferguson appeared in Stephen Frears's Florence Foster Jenkins opposite Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, and Tate Taylor's thriller book adaptation The Girl on the Train starring Emily Blunt. In 2017, Ferguson played the female lead in Daniel Espinosa's sci-fi horror Life, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds, co-starred in Tomas Alfredson's crime thriller The Snowman, alongside Michael Fassbender and Charlotte Gainsbourg, and starred as Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind in the musical film The Greatest Showman, with Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams.

In 2019, Ferguson had several major film roles. She co-starred in Doctor Sleep, the adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name; played the villain Morgana in Joe Cornish's adventure film The Kid Who Would Be King; and co-starred as Riza Stavros in F. Gary Gray's science fiction comedy film Men in Black: International. In 2021, she co-starred in Lisa Joy's science fiction thriller Reminiscence. She also played Lady Jessica in Denis Villeneuve's film adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel Dune. She reprised the role in the sequel, Dune: Part Two (2024). In 2023, Ferguson starred in and was also an executive producer in the Apple TV+ science fiction series Silo.

Personal life
In 2007, Ferguson gave birth to her first child, a son, with her then-boyfriend Ludwig Hallberg, a psychosynthesis therapist. After her soap opera success and the birth of her son, she moved with Hallberg to Simrishamn, on the Swedish southeast coast. In 2012, Ferguson and Hallberg taught tango together in Österlen. The couple separated in April 2015.

Since 2016, Ferguson has been in a relationship with businessman Rory St. Clair Gainer, with whom she has a daughter who was born in May 2018. Ferguson and Gainer were married at the end of the same year. They have a house in Richmond, southwest London, owing to its proximity to Pinewood and Shepperton studios.