David James/Paramount Pictures
Rebecca Ferguson plays Ilsa Faust in "Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation." Her character is inspired by Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) from "Casablanca."
Warning: This article contains some spoilers for "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation."
In "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation," Tom Cruise jumps through windows, spends a really long amount of time underwater, and hangs onto the side of an airplane.
Yet, even with all of these flashy stunts, the biggest stand out in the film is actress Rebecca Ferguson, who stars as Ilsa Faust.
Paramount
Ferguson learned from Tom Cruise and did a lot of her own stunts.
Faust is a formidable friend, and sometimes foe, to Cruise's Ethan Hunt. She bails him out of a few tough situations while still helping out the villainous Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).
They first meet after Ilsa frees Ethan after he is taken prisoner by the Syndicate, the same shadowy organization that she happens to work for. With very little hope of bringing the Syndicate down, Ethan turns to Ilsa for help. Throughout the film, she repeatedly helps and betrays Hunt and the Impossible Missions Force (IMF).
Her character is inspired by Ingrid Bergman's Ilsa from "Casablanca", according to an interview Ferguson did with The Daily Beast. Coincidentally, much of the film was shot in Casablanca in Morocco.
Faust is a skilled fighter, and the fact that she did most of her own stunts makes scenes like this even more impressive:
She even helps get Tom Cruise out of a few tough situations, especially when they need to make a quick escape after trying to stop an assassination attempt:
Who is Rebecca Ferguson?
Getty Images
Ferguson at the New York premiere of "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation"
Ferguson is a Swedish actress who was born and raised in Stockholm. Now 31 years old, she has had roles in various Swedish TV shows and movies since 1999, when she was still a teenager.
However, she has also starred in many English and American movies prior to "Rogue Nation." She played Queen Elizabeth in 2013 Starz miniseries "The White Queen", a role which earned her a Golden Globe nomination.
Her only previous American movie role was in 2014's "Hercules" alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. However, that is likely to change, given "Rogue Nation"'s big $55.5 million opening weekend. Ferguson already has a few roles planned on the horizon. She is currently filming "Florence Foster Jenkins" alongside Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant.
While Cruise has gotten most the attention for doing his own stunts, Ferguson also took most of the action into her own hands as well.
Paramount Pictures
Ferguson's first day of shooting "Rogue Nation" forced her to overcome her fear of heights.
According to People, Ferguson took notes from watching Cruise perform his own stunts, then underwent a month of intense training. Her action scenes couldn't have been easy for her to shoot. Her very first day of shooting, which took place at the Vienna State Opera, required her to overcome her fear of heights, according to The Daily Beast.
"I had vertigo and I did a 120-foot free fall," Ferguson told People. "I'm still patting myself on the shoulder for that one."
You can see Rebecca Ferguson steal the show from Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation," now playing in theaters.