The Stunning Transformation Of Rebecca Ferguson
In a 2019 chat with The Guardian, actor Rebecca Ferguson said that she could still go out in public without attracting attention. Yes, even after appearing in major flicks like "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation," "Mission: Impossible — Fallout," "The Girl On the Train," and "The Greatest Showman," she could go about her business without worrying about getting recognized. She told the outlet that she was grateful for this separation between her professional life and personal life.
As Ferguson's career only continues to pick up steam and her filmography only continues to grow, one might assume it's harder to fly under the radar. But evidently, she's still able to maintain some level of anonymity in some areas of her life. As she told Denis Villeneuve for Interview magazine in 2021, "I was at a children's party with my daughter today. ... We walk up and say hello to the hosts, and the mother says, 'I actually don't know what you do.'" After the friend's mom finally realized that she not only knew who Ferguson was, but had just watched her in "Dune: Part One," she was overcome by emotion. "She was so shocked, and I turned so red," Ferguson said. "Eventually I laughed and she laughed."
Despite all of the success she's racked up throughout her acting career, she remains a grounded, down-to-earth celebrity who hasn't let go of where she came from. From Swedish soap actor to Hollywood superstar, this is the transformation of Rebecca Ferguson.
Rebecca Ferguson grew up in Sweden
Rebecca Louisa Ferguson Sundström began her life far away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. She was born in 1983 to Rosemary Ferguson and Olov Sundström — the pair met, she once mysteriously told the Belfast Telegraph, in "an interesting way." Her mother was raised in England and eventually relocated to Sweden, where she briefly worked with ABBA. In addition to contributing to the English translation of the lyrics on "Waterloo," she's also part of the cover art for their self-titled album. As Rebecca dished on an episode of "The Graham Norton Show," her mother's legs are featured on the back cover of the jacket
"She is rather eccentric," Rebecca said of her mother in a chat with Town & Country. In her aforementioned interview with The Guardian, the actor shared that Rosemary had a habit of filling the home with smells before having guests over — namely, fresh coffee, cigar smoke, and cognac. "Like people do now with sage," she said. Her father, meanwhile, was a Swedish businessman.
Her parents were never married and separated when Rebecca was just 3. She lived with both of them. "Marriage isn't a big thing in Sweden, I think we're quite open to everyone's ideas and visions which is quite lovely," she said to the Belfast Telegraph.
As a child, she stayed busy with extracurriculars
From an early age, Rebecca Ferguson was encouraged to pursue the performing arts, but that wasn't the only hobby she explored. "My mother raised me to try things out," she said to Numero. "I did ballet, tap, dance, street, funk, jazz. I did a bridge course with four 70-year old ladies when I was 14 or 13 because I was very good at counting cards. I did basketball, gymnastics. There's nothing I haven't tried."
Ferguson's parents taught her to take chances, believe in herself, and be willing to step outside her comfort zone. As she said in a separate chat with Contributor magazine, "They were just very loving and have never told me that things aren't possible."
You may not know or expect this about Rebecca Ferguson, but acting was not one of her top hobbies when she was a kid. "I never thought that I was going to be an actress," she told Denis Villeneuve for Interview. "No theater, no school plays." Now, that is not to say her long list of extracurriculars didn't come in handy down the road. In fact, the experience actually helped her when she finally started acting. "I was never worried of making a fool out of myself," she explained to Numero.
Rebecca Ferguson got her start in a Swedish soap opera at 15
After trying out a range of artistic endeavors, Rebecca Ferguson found herself auditioning for a Swedish TV show when she was just 15 years old at the behest of her mother. "The queue for the audition was around the block," she recalled to Denis Villeneuve for Interview magazine. "I don't remember the process, but I became the lead of this soap opera." The soap opera was called "Nya Tider" (which means "New Times" in English), and as Ferguson told The Guardian, it made her a local celebrity. She worked on the show for a year and a half.
Starring in a TV show at 15 made Ferguson grow up fast. "The work environment became second nature to me," she said in Vanity Fair. In fact, she actually started paying her mother rent. As she explained to Vogue (via Toronto.com), her mom told her, "You're a working woman who is earning more than me so you give back to the family."
After Nya Tider, she struggled to find her footing
After her time on "Nya Tider" came to an end in 2000, Rebecca Ferguson had a period of feeling a little lost. "I remember thinking, 'I'm just not a part of that world anymore,'" she confessed to Vogue. "I wasn't going to university, I couldn't, because I'd left school early... By 16, I'd left home too."
Living away from home, Ferguson found herself unsure of her next steps. Though she was interested in keeping at her acting career, she decided not to go to drama school like other young actors. "Most sincere actors go to drama school," she said to The Guardian. "They watch Bergman and wear purple berets. That wasn't me. I didn't know what the craft was."
Instead of going to school, she floated from one gig to the next, working in retail stores, at a restaurant, and in childcare. "Some people sharp-elbow themselves through life just to get what they want," she reflected. "I never felt that drive... For me, it's been a slow process."
Rebecca Ferguson returned to the small screen in 2002
After a little lull, Rebecca Ferguson's acting career picked back up. From 2002 until 2003, she appeared in over a hundred episodes of "Ocean Ave.," another Swedish soap opera. This was followed by roles in "Drowning Ghost," "Wallander," and "Lennart," all Swedish projects. It wasn't until "A One-Way Trip to Antibes," a film by Richard Hobert, that Ferguson began to feel her career was truly moving forward. "It was my first cinema film and from that point on, I could meet with agents, so it was my gateway," she told Crash magazine.
Even though Ferguson has since left the Swedish film and television industry, she still looks back on this decade of her career with fondness. What's more, she would embrace jumping back in where she got her start. "To come back to Sweden and do a Swedish film would make me feel very safe," she said to Denis Villeneuve for Interview magazine. "I wouldn't feel like a rookie."
Rebecca Ferguson landed her first English role in The White Queen
Rebecca Ferguson's career hit a huge turning point in 2013 when she was cast as Elizabeth Woodville in the BBC's series "The White Queen." Getting the role was, she told the BBC, "an absolute emotional rollercoaster." In fact, it was the first time she had ever had an audition in London. After a series of auditions, it was down to her and one other actor. "We were both staying in different hotels waiting to hear," she recalled. "I did not sleep. My agent called ... the next morning. I said, 'Don't say anything, just give me the news,' and he said, 'It's yours.'" So, she moved to London and began preparing for the role that would introduce her to an English audience.
The magnitude of the gig sank in for Ferguson when she was sitting on a throne in costume. "It was such a moment for me," she said on the podcast "Reign with Josh Smith," adding, "We're sitting there, and I go, 'Is this? We're king and queen of England, this is like, how the heck did this happen?'"
Her work on the series generated acclaim from audiences and critics alike, and in 2014, she was nominated for a Golden Globe. The performance caught the attention of studios, too. As she told Crash, "'The White Queen' led to meetings, lots of castings."
Rebecca Ferguson's career took another big turn with Mission: Impossible
After the huge success of "The White Queen," the former soap actor continued acting in English-speaking projects — and the projects just got bigger and bigger. In 2013, she appeared in the film "The Vatican" and in 2014, she starred in "Hercules" alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. In 2015, Rebecca Ferguson starred opposite Tom Cruise "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation." This was followed by two more films in the franchise.
For Ferguson, this meant working on giant sets, heading to crazy locations, and doing wild stunts. In fact, she even learned how to ride a motorcycle for the films. What's more, the former soap star learned to feel at home in the world of big-budget franchises. Sure, "Hercules" was a major actioner, but the "Mission: Impossible" series is a totally different beast.
"I was thrown into 'Mission,' what, 10 years ago? And then I've done another 'Mission' and then another 'Mission,'" Ferguson said to Josh Smith on "Reign." "I've had all of these incredibly high, studio, intense films... I've done big studio films, so it feels like my body's cradled into the masses."
She married her husband in 2018
In 2018, Rebecca Ferguson married her husband, Rory St. Clair Gainer. He works not in show business, but as a businessman; Ferguson is yet another celebrity who has married a regular person.
At first, Ferguson kept their marriage private. She later opened up about her relationship to Extra in 2019, revealing that they had tied the knot over the Christmas holiday. "I think we both wanted to step over all thresholds," she said, explaining why they chose to walk down the aisle. "Also, I'm not very religious. I believe in love." Naturally, her wedding wasn't exactly conventional. Instead of hiring a giant venue, she and Gainer rented a cozy cottage where their family and friends could play games. She also opted out of donning a traditional wedding dress. "I wore a beautiful skirt, wedding skirt, that I can shorten off, get some pockets in, and I'll use it in Greece for the summer," she said.
Ferguson has a son, Isac, from a previous relationship. She and Gainer also had a daughter, Saga. As a mother, Ferguson is unflinchingly honest. "When [Isac] asks things, I'm very honest," she told the Independent. "We had lots of conversations about sexuality when he was younger."
Rebecca Ferguson was vocal during the #MeToo movement
In 2017, women in the entertainment industry began speaking up about their experiences of misogyny, discrimination, and even abuse from male colleagues. Rebecca Ferguson was on board with the #MeToo movement straight away. As she said in the Independent in 2019, it's "so bloody brilliant."
Like so many other women in Hollywood, Ferguson has endured disrespect and harassment in the workplace. "I have definitely, no shadow of a doubt, been treated unfairly," she told the Independent. "I've walked off a set with a male director once. I thought, 'I'd rather fly home, and be sued for not continuing, than go through this s*** again.'"
Ferguson mustered up the courage to confront the director, but she only left the conversation more frustrated. "I realised he was very manipulative," she said. Eventually, there was some level of resolution: Ferguson shared that after the director tried to grope her, she slapped his hand away and said, "Don't ever f***ing touch me again." She concluded, "And he never did. That was it."
The Dune series was yet another boon to her filmography
Rebecca Ferguson landed yet another giant role in another beloved franchise when she was cast as Lady Jessica Atreides in Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" series. In the first film, which came out in 2021, she starred opposite the likes of real-life friends Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, as well as Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, and Jason Mamoa.
As Ferguson explained to ScreenRant, she knew she wanted to be in Villeneuve's franchise before she even knew what it was. "The fact that Denis wanted to have a meeting with me about his new project just activated my need to be in whatever it was he was going to present," she said. Then, during their meeting, he explained his vision of telling Paul's story through the eyes of Jessica — and she was hooked. "How do you not want to do that?" she gushed.
But finding the character of Jessica wasn't entirely easy. Jessica is, she told The Hollywood Reporter, a stoic and commanding figure, and it takes some work to sink into her energy. "There was a calmness over her," she said. "I did a lot of meditation and breathing."
Rebecca Ferguson loved being an executive producer on Silo
In 2023, Rebecca Ferguson embarked on a new chapter of her career when she took on her first project as an executive producer. In the Apple TV+ sci-fi series "Silo," she plays Juliette Nicholson, a steely, no-nonsense "sheriff" in a post-apocalyptic world where a society lives in an underground silo. She also is one of the producers on the series.
Ferguson was drawn to the role as it gave her a chance to play tap into her grittier side. "I often take on powerful characters and portray regal princesses and countesses and concubines, so my agenda was to completely break down and find in myself the capacity to do something else with Juliette," she said to IndieWire.
She also appreciates having a little more control over the direction of the project, and she hopes to work on a producer on other projects. "I'm learning to be a producer," she told ScreenRant. "That's basically what I want to do."
Rebecca Ferguson's story about an 'idiot' co-star went viral
During the press tour for "Dune: Part Two," Rebecca Ferguson revealed that another actor she worked with on a separate project had yelled at her in the past. While speaking to Josh Smith in February 2024, she explained, "I did a film with an absolute idiot of a co-star." Apparently, the unnamed co-star would scream at her, leaving her in tears. "Because this person was number one on a call sheet, there was no safety net for me. So no one had my back." However, Ferguson didn't put up with it for long. After that, she refused to work with the actor again. "I'm going to work towards a tennis ball, I never want to see you again," she recalled saying.
The clip quickly went viral, and fans expressed their outrage on her behalf. Dwayne Johnson, who had starred alongside Ferguson in "Hercules," tweeted, "Hate seeing this but love seeing her stand up to bulls***. Rebecca was my guardian angel sent from heaven on our set. I love that woman. I'd like to find out who did this."
Rebecca Ferguson was thrilled to be part of Dune: Part Two
When it was time for "Dune: Part Two" hit the big screen in 2024, Rebecca Ferguson made it abundantly clear she's beyond proud of the project. "I'm so ridiculously excited for it to come out," she said to Numero before the film's release. "Everything that I have seen, the little clips when I've done additional dialogue recording, is phenomenal, it's extraordinary." It sounds like Ferguson is as big a fan of the franchise as anyone.
However, with the second film of the franchise, it really hit her just how big a deal "Dune" had become. Speaking on the "Reign" podcast, she noted how surreal it was to be on the press tour with the all-star team. "It's a collaboration of what is like the bee's knees of fame," she said. "You kind of go, 'This is crazy.'"
Chances are, Denis Villeneuve will be making a third "Dune" film — but Ferguson hasn't guaranteed she'll return. "There's never just [an immediate] yes or a no," she said warily to The Playlist in 2024. "I'm very much what's on the page; the story needs to be there, and there needs to be reason."
Rebecca Ferguson is fiercely protective of her private family life
Though Rebecca Ferguson has starred in some of the biggest blockbusters of the 21st century, she continues to do what she can to keep a low-key life. Yes, she's a huge star, but she tries to live a normal life. For starters, she doesn't reside in Hollywood. "I still split my time between my little fishing village and London," she once told Crash. As she said in Glass magazine in 2021, the town where she resides in Sweden is "a different world" — a place where she can spend time in nature and hang out with friends.
Maintaining her privacy is perhaps her ultimate aim. In fact, she's so committed to staying under the radar that she's said she even avoids looking at her phone. "The privacy of life is so wonderful and I think what I have managed to do is to maintain it," she explained to Numero.
With a potential third "Dune" on the horizon and another season of "Silo" in the works, her star is burning brighter than ever. It's probably safe to assume her days of going unrecognized at kids' birthday parties will soon be behind her.