I just realized that you're wearing green and you wore that gorgeous green gown in the film.

Yellow?

Well, to me it was green. I said, I think I'm color blind. Maybe. Okay. It's chartreuse. Should I just agree with her? Yeah. What's up, guys? Mickey Novak here in the Young Hollywood Studio with Rebecca Ferguson. So excited that you're here.

I'm so excited to be here.

All the way from Sweden.

I know, I just flew in.

You did?

I just landed.

You have to fly back today?

And then I fly back tomorrow.

We appreciate it. We appreciate it. Wait a second. While we're talking about Sweden, I read this that you live in a windmill. Is this true?

I know. We have a windmill. Yes. Uh it's under construction and renovation and sort of in need of hammering and fixing.

Goodness. And you live in a small fishing village in Sweden. And I read this that you like to go fishing. You like to put the boots on and do all this whole and I'm like Swedish fish. I thought they were just an urban.

Well, the thing is I'm kind of um I like the idea of fishing. I like it's like playing cards. I like picking up my hand and not knowing what the cards are going to be.

Are you a good card player?

Well, I like playing cards.

So, let's talk about Mission Impossible. Whether or not you're a fan of this franchise,

Oh, big time.

Were you?

Oh, yes, I was. I've seen many times.

Now, wait a second, you said to me before the rolling. Tom Cruise was your childhood crush? Is this true?

Yes, he was actually. I remember seeing him in Interview with the Vampire with Brad Pitt. With that other dude. Well, Brad, Tom and Brad. And I think maybe because we didn't have many vampire movies, I found them quite intoxicatingly interesting. And I think Tom's character was fascinating one.

First of all, Christopher McQuarrie, who directed this film. Yes. I read when you came in, he said you were 180 degrees different than who he thought he was going to cast. And the second you walked out, he and Tom simultaneously said that's her.

Really? Yeah. Is that what they said?

It's in the, it's in the press notes, so it has to be true.

I like this story. I haven't heard. I haven't heard that before.

Well, guess what. I like this story. I haven't, I haven't heard that before.

This is how it went down. I'm playing Ilsa Faust. She is a feminine version of Ethan Hunt. She has a kick-ass mean side and a vulnerability, very much like me. I remember calling my agent and saying, is there some kind of an independent movie, something small where I can just see if I can do a physical part? And I remember them saying, yeah, Mission is casting. And me thinking, just a small, not going to happen. Not going to happen. Let's do a tape and let's see. And then they called. And I was in the desert in Morocco, on a camel, called Barbie. And the producer came up and said, Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie wants to meet you. But I need you back on Barbie in about 17 hours. So it was a mission impossible. Basically Mission Impossible turned very possible thanks to everyone around us. Yes, and I remember walking in, thinking, am I going to meet Tom Cruise? And then, bam, there he was with Chris. And we laughed and drank coffee and played and talked and chatted and I left with like a coat hanger in my mouth. Do you know her? We haven't been formally introduced. It was a Faust. We're after the same thing and I can help you. They're walking up the stairs, and it was sort of an introduction scene. And I remember not really feeling sexy, but just trying to make it look like a very good entrance scene. And I had Jessica Rabbit's song from Roger Rabbit, when she walks out on stage. And I had that on, you know, repeat in my brain. Every time I wanted it to be kind of smooth.

And I just realized that you're wearing green and you wore that gorgeous green gown in the film.

Yellow?

Well, to me it was green. I said, I think I'm colorblind. Maybe. Okay. It's chartreuse. Should I just agree with her? Yeah.

Yes, it was green. That green gown. Yes. I forget sometimes that I'm colorblind.

Green gown. Chartreuse. It's yellowish green. But maybe to some people, green. Yes. To some people, maybe pink. Just like your shirt. But it was a. It was a phenomenal dress.

Janna Johnson, the costume designer, she would come on to set when I was rehearsing. And she would look at me move. And she would create everything from every movement. So if I needed to do a jump up with my left leg, she would make the slit on the left leg.

The killer thigh move.

The killer thigh move. It's catching on. It's catching on. I like it.

See here, I have an idea for you, Rebecca. You could coin this move. And there could be classes for like how to do the killer thigh move. And it could get your thighs in shape. Women across the nation. All of it.

Stomach. There's a lot of stomach movement.

Absolutely.

Intelligence.

Exactly.

You have to jump, not sit. Yeah. There's a lot of knowledge in this move.

Everybody's talking about the stunts that you have to do in this film. And when you're working opposite Tom Cruise, who does 100% of his own stunts. And I actually knew that and still when I saw the first scene of him hanging off the plane, I still thought that was CGI. I didn't realize that he actually did it.

I barely believed. I knew he was going to do it. I didn't know when he was going to do it. And I think I was doing motorbike training that day. So he was He was on a plane, I was on a motorbike. They never Listen to it. It's so weird. And it's so real when you're doing it. And they came back and said, so Tom has done the plane thing. And I said, no, no, no, no, he didn't. I said, yeah, no, no, he did. He did. And he showed me the footage. And I sat there in front of that monitor, watching on replay and replay.

The underwater sequence, to me is fascinating just because you did learned to hold your breath. I know he learned to hold his breath for like six minutes or something crazy. I think you did something similar. How do you train yourself?

Um, well, the underwater sequence was really hard and fun and I never thought it would be so tiring, but exciting because I, I dive. And I'm a water person. Yes. I love.

So that to you was sort of more in your element and water.

It was my element until you realize how much hard work it is because, as Ilsa says so kindly in the film, the more you exert your body, the more oxygen is taken. Right. So when we do a scene and they say action and bubbles needs to disappear. And then you do this incredible movement of catching and flipping around, basically you have to be able to hold your breath for more than four minutes. And realizing when you train with Kurt Krok, who was the deep diver who we had on set, that it's actually possible. And to go further than that, it's kind of exciting. It's exhilarating. There's so much we can do if we're put in a situation where you are safe. People have knowledge, they can teach you in a, in a good way.

What was the biggest moment for you of I didn't think I could do this and I did it?

I didn't think I was going to do the jump. I remember them telling me, just, you know, the first day of shooting will be jumping off the rooftop. And I remember thinking, they're not going to force me. I wish I could do it. We had repelled off and I remember swearing. And he laughed and laughed and laughed. And then he says to that, does that mean you, you're ready? And I said, no, no, no, no, no, go, go. And he jumped and he looked at me and he said, welcome to Mission. I just had to take a moment. My character's way of moving is more like a cat. She will claw herself onto her victims to make these massive big guys fall. To see how these incredible stunt works are made and how much effort is put into something that you might see for two seconds and go, oh, that was a cool move or you might not even think about it. But what I know is how much work, how much effort is put into the tiniest detail of fabric so that you actually can slide and not get caught on a rooftop. If buttons were hurt, if you make a big whip, fabric is so important.

I know, I read too that um in the plane scene, they somebody had to be on the lookout for birds because if a bird hit him, it would kill him.

Completely. Yeah. Or a tiny little rock or anything.

Yeah. Coming into that sort of experience, was there any sort of initiation process? Was there any sort of prank or

No. No, they were kind to not prank with me too much. We laugh a lot. We dance a lot.

Do you?

Oh, yes. Mhm.

I'm thinking how does Simon Pegg dance? How does Tom Cruise?

Oh, Simon's a very good dancer. Tom has some fabulous um

Does he?

Under moves. Oh, yeah. It just makes it fun. But basically, I mean, this was an established team already. Yeah. But they made that so easy for me to come in and just feel at home in an environment that I've never been in before.

Speaking of superstars, you just worked with Meryl Streep.

Yes.

So tell me a little bit about that.

Phenomenal.

As you said, for me to go from Mission Impossible with Tom and Christopher McQuarrie to Stephen Frears' movie with Meryl Streep. I have to say her last, last name. I can't just say Meryl. It's weird. She's Meryl Streep. It's about a woman who can't sing. It's just for me to walk onto set when I wrapped my day, grab a coffee and just watch Meryl act. It's

You just stayed around after your scenes?

Why wouldn't you? I mean, why wouldn't you? Well, this is how I learn as well. I study people. I study. Yes, it looks good. I study, no I do. I study people, how they are off set on set. If there's something I realize I don't want to do, if there's something I do want to do. And it's school, it's the best kind of school. Dance moves, killer thigh moves. It's all of it. It's all good. Yeah.

Thank you for coming in.

Thank you.

This has been a real pleasure having you here. This has been really good.

Oh, good. Yeah, I'm glad you had fun. Thank you.

And I love your yellow top.

Oh, thank you. Actually, it's brown.