Maggie Q

Margaret Denise Quigley, known professionally as Maggie Q, was born on May 22, 1979, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her father is of Polish and Irish descent, and her mother is Vietnamese. She attended Mililani High School, where she participated in cross country, track and field, and swim teams, graduating in 1997. Maggie Q initially aspired to be a veterinarian but ultimately entered the modeling industry in Tokyo at the age of 17. She later moved to Hong Kong, where she adopted the stage name “Maggie Q” for easier pronunciation. Her career in entertainment started with modeling, which led to acting opportunities.

She began her acting career in Hong Kong cinema in 1998 with the TV drama ‘House of the Dragon.’ Her film debut was in ‘Model from Hell’ in 2000, followed by a role in ‘Gen-Y Cops’ in the same year. Her work caught the attention of Jackie Chan, who became her mentor and cast her in ‘Rush Hour 2’ (2001). Maggie Q made her Hollywood debut in ‘Mission: Impossible III’ (2006) alongside Tom Cruise, playing IMF agent Zhen. She further established her presence in American films with roles in ‘Live Free or Die Hard’ (2007) and ‘Balls of Fury’ (2007).

Her career continued to progress with a lead role in The CW’s action-thriller series ‘Nikita’ from 2010 to 2013, garnering positive reviews. She also took on the role of Tori Wu in the ‘Divergent’ film series from 2014 to 2016 and starred as FBI Special Agent Hannah Wells in the ABC/Netflix political thriller series ‘Designated Survivor’ from 2016 to 2019. In recent years, she has continued to appear in films like ‘The Protégé’ (2021) and ‘Fear the Night’ (2023), and is set to star as Detective Renée Ballard in the upcoming Prime Video series ‘Ballard’ in 2025.