Rebecca Ferguson plays a different kind of femme fatale

VIENNA, Austria — Rebecca Ferguson said she has “been a fan of these ‘Mission: Impossible’ films from the very beginning, but never ever did I dream that I would one day have the chance to be in one of them.”

Shortly before walking the red carpet at the world premiere of “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation,” the Swedish-born actress, who has an English mother, added that she is especially pleased with how audiences will see her Ilsa Faust character in the movie.

“From the first moment I met Tom [Cruise] and Chris [McQuarrie] they made it clear to me that the essence of Ilsa was her intelligence and her vulnerability — plus her ability to really kick ass,” Ferguson said with a smile.

“Yes, there’s the femme fatale aspect to her. Yes, there’s sensuality, but they wanted me to know they were not going to play off of that femme fatale bit. It was more about examining the mysteriousness of her. … Even at the end of the film, I think audiences are going to find that Ilsa is still very mysterious. A lot about her is really not revealed.”

As for all the action and stunts, Ferguson said she surprised herself “that I was actually able to do as many of them as I could. I think being around Tom was an inspiration for that. When you see what he’s going through, you say to yourself, ‘Hey, I’ve got to try to do them too!’ It was often non-stop and kind of crazy, but … I survived, didn’t I?”