Rebecca Ferguson – Bow Down to Hollywood’s Her Majesty
By James Patrick Herman Photography by Jeff Vespa
All hail Rebecca Ferguson, who landed the title role of The White Queen on Starz, not to mention plum parts in new projects from Brett Ratner and Ridley Scott. Bow down, L.A. ingenues!
What’s it like filming Brett Ratner’s Hercules: The Thracian Wars in Budapest?
“Boiling hot. It’s like 110 degrees. But I love to travel, so that’s one of the best parts of this job for me.”
You’re from Stockholm. What’s the most Swedish thing about you?
“I don’t have much IKEA furniture, but I do love caviar.”
You happen to have the same name as another Rebecca Ferguson, the singing sensation from The X Factor.
“No shit, Sherlock. Do you know I listened to her the first time last week? She is spectacular. A lot of people have said: Are you going to change your name? First of all, let’s get down to the real point: I was born before her. I am number one. So if anyone has to change her name, I believe it’s her.”
Coincidentally, you attended Adolf Fredriks, Sweden’s famed music school, so you have a musical background as well.
“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.”
What inspired you 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.”
Would you consider that your big break?
“People began recognizing me, I guess. But I think my break came three years ago when I played the lead in a Swedish film called A One-Way Trip to Antibes. That was a lot of work for me, but it paid off well because I got an agent in London. And the first casting they sent me to was The White Queen.”
What’s the main appeal of this epic new Starz series for you?
“We’ve all seen the stories of men on the battlefield—the killing, the raping. And now we are retelling history from the female perspective: What the women of the court had to do to secure the throne for their children. It’s fascinating.”
Do you prefer making period pieces?
“I know this is sort of taboo for actors to say, but I love shifting 180 degrees and then back. In this case, I was given a chance to try a period drama. I would also love to do modern piece. And science fiction. I want to try everything. It’s my work, my job. I just want to tell brilliant stories based on fun, interesting characters.”
How did you prepare for playing Queen Elizabeth?
“Darling, you just put on a robe and it’s done! Once you get through hair and makeup and walk onto these elaborate sets and you embody a queen with her personality, it’s either there or it isn’t. And I found her quite quickly. I could relate to her—not being a queen but the person she was behind that facade. We could all look regal walking down the coronation scene. But what goes on behind all that? That’s the difficult part to grasp.”
Your performance reminds me of a young Cate Blanchett. What actresses inspire you?
“Cate Blanchett would be on top of my list. I also love Helena Bonham Carter’s craziness. The strength of Maggie Smith. The natural presence of Helen Mirren. Carrie Mulligan is wonderful, too. There are so many actresses that deliver, and I admire different parts of them.”
How does an actress from Sweden suddenly become the darling of Hollywood?
“Am I? (Laughs.) Well, there’s always been an interest not just in Sweden but Scandinavia in general: Skarsgârd and, of course, Bergman. There’s something that fascinates the world or the Americas, specifically. We have three Scandinavians on Hercules. And right now is a good time for me to be working. I mean, I’m hitting 30 this year. I’ve experienced a lot in my life—things that make us gradually grow and mature into the people we become. I’m not mature yet, but having a child certainly helps. So I think that has a lot to do with it as well. Combined with a brilliant agent!”
In Hercules, you’re playing a princess instead of a queen, correct?
“Yes, the princess of a kingdom in Greece that’s ruled by my father, played by John Hurt. We’re threatened by different warlords all over Greece and need Hercules to fight for us. My character is a widow and she has a son. It sort of resembles The White Queen, doesn’t it? I am trying to find the different parts of her, so that I don’t end up doing the same thing, and it’s difficult. At the same time, this woman is out on the battlefield because she has decided to become a nurse. She has taught herself the healing art of medicine to play her part during wartime. So she is strong in different ways: She’s a maternal bear.”
And what can you reveal about your character in Ridley Scott’s pilot for Showtime, The Vatican?
“She’s a countess of the most respected family in Italy, and she has relations to the Vatican. She is a femme fatale woman looking for…well, I can’t give away any more than that. I’m not allowed to reveal too much. Suffice to say, I’ve been lucky enough to play three strong women recently.”
Have you enjoyed working with major movie directors such as Brett Ratner and Ridley Scott?
“They have very different styles. Some directors are easy to connect to and some are…much more challenging. It’s work. I mean, as we all know, some people we just click with—and some people we don’t. But I could not give a rat’s bottom when it comes to hierarchy and names. I respect people for the work they do. I will respect anyone—whether they are Hollywood stars or independent filmmakers from Denmark—and hopefully they’ll respect me, too.”
What would be your dream role?
“I’ve always wanted to play not a victim—because it’s hard to play a victim without being a boring whiner—but someone who is put in difficult situations whether it’s with drugs or abuse. Someone who is a victim in the eyes of society and manages to be a survivor.”
Considering your recent success in Hollywood, why are you based so far away in Österlen, Sweden?
“Because I love Europe, and it’s a luxury to live here. All of this started after I had lived in Österlen for seven years. That’s my home: Not just the four walls and a roof but also my family, which is my partner and my child and my friends. People say: Why don’t you move to L.A.? But I don’t see the point. I would be one of a million actors who speak fluent American. It’s probably better for me to be seen as exotic. Plus, I love the energy of Europe. And the temperature.”
Did you ever have a normal job that did not involve traipsing around the globe?
“I love meeting people, so I’ve done a lot. I was 17 when I wrapped that soap opera. Then I took whatever job people would give me considering that I do not have a degree. I worked in restaurants, shoe shops and clothing boutiques, later realizing that I’m not interested in clothes so I really shouldn’t be doing that. My favorite job was at a daycare where I specialized in children with ADHD. The challenge of working through a problem with a child who has special needs and seeing them develop? For me that was bliss.”
Having the experience of working patiently with children should come in handy with certain male directors in Hollywood.
“Oh, really? Is that what they say? Thank God I have a son.”