Why Jessica From The New Dune Movies Looks So Familiar
Few films have been as eagerly anticipated as Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" adaptations in recent years. 2021's "Dune: Part One" and 2024's "Dune: Part Two" were both delayed for reasons beyond their control (COVID-19 in the case of the first installment, the SAG-AFTRA strikes in the case of the second), though they were both worth the wait: The first film scooped six Oscars and "Dune: Part Two" blew everyone away at the box office.
The story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his journey to lead the desert-dwelling Fremen to victory over the oppressive Harkonnens is chock full of subplots, mythology, and layered characters. Villeneuve employed a huge ensemble across both films, including young stars like Zendaya, Austin Butler, and Florence Pugh, and veteran actors like Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Stellan Skarsgard.
One of the standout performances comes from Rebecca Ferguson as Paul's mother, Lady Jessica, a Bene Gesserit sorceress encouraging her son to take his place as the messianic leader of the Fremen. Ferguson falls somewhere between rising star and veteran actor, as she's both relatively new to most viewers but has been in more stuff than you'd think. If you've been wondering why she looks so familiar, we're here to scratch that itch: Here are some film and television roles you may know her from.
The White Queen (2013)
After appearing in numerous episodes of the Swedish soap operas "Nya Tider" and "Ocean Ave.," Rebecca Ferguson came to the attention of international audiences with her performance in the limited series "The White Queen," which aired on Starz after premiering on the BBC. Adapted from a series of books by Philippa Gregory, it follows three women — Elizabeth Woodville (Ferguson), Margaret Beaufort (Amanda Hale), and Anne Neville (Faye Marsay) — fighting for control of the 15th century English throne.
As Woodville, Ferguson plays a common woman whose husband dies in battle during the Wars of the Roses. Through a stroke of good luck, she romances and weds King Edward IV (Max Irons) to become the titular White Queen, much to the chagrin of the king's trusted adviser, Lord Warwick (James Frain), who wanted his daughter Anne to marry the young royal. Palace intrigue ensues as various factions vie for power, with Lady Beaufort working behind the scenes to secure the crown for her son, Henry Tudor (Michael Marcus).
The role was a huge breakthrough for Ferguson, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. Even though the Emmys didn't follow suit (despite nominating the show for outstanding miniseries), "The White Queen" nevertheless helped her gain leading roles outside of her native Sweden. And, thankfully, casting directors around the globe had the good sense not to restrict her to period gowns and crowns.
The Red Tent (2014)
Before traveling to the deserts of Arrakis for "Dune," Rebecca Ferguson ventured to Morocco for what turned out to be a highly unconventional biblical epic. Adapted from the novel by Anita Diamant, "The Red Tent" refocuses the male-centric stories in the book of Genesis to be told from the female perspective. Ferguson plays Dinah, daughter of Leah (Minnie Driver) and Jacob (Iain Glen), who has only a brief mention in the Old Testament yet is the central focus of this story. Dinah, who also narrates the two-part series, spends a great deal of time with the other women of her tribe in the red tent, swapping stories and learning the ways of womanhood from the likes of her grandmother Rebecca (Debra Winger).
"The Red Tent" received positive reviews when it aired on Lifetime, with Ferguson earning particularly enthusiastic praise for her performance. "Rebecca Ferguson is remarkably good as Dinah," wrote Mary McNamara in the Los Angeles Times. "Just as she was in 'The White Queen'... Ferguson is a luminous presence who easily carries the story, making it compelling throughout," raved Allison Keene in The Hollywood Reporter. "Despite the recognizable names, much of the production's appeal can be attributed to the Swedish-born Ferguson, who with her earlier Starz showcase ['The White Queen'] now has two solid miniseries under her belt," said Brian Lowry of Variety. Role by role, people were starting to take notice of Ferguson's abilities.
Hercules (2014)
It didn't take long for Rebecca Ferguson to make her way to Hollywood after the success of "The White Queen." Unfortunately, her American film debut wasn't a noteworthy one. Brett Ratner's "Hercules" wasn't exactly a bomb — in fact, it made a pretty decent chunk of change, earning $244 million at the worldwide box office. Yet, reviews were mixed at best, and what praise there was went to Dwayne Johnson's performance as the hulking demigod.
The movie has all but faded from existence since it hit cineplexes a decade ago, and many associated with it would prefer that it was wiped from their filmographies completely after sexual assault allegations against Ratner — including Ferguson, who declined to talk about the film during a 2024 appearance on the "Reign with John Smith" podcast (via Fandom Wire) to promote "Dune: Part Two." She said: "I've all of these incredibly high studio intense films I did. 'Hercules,' which we don't need to talk about because we don't need to promote directors like that."
Ferguson plays Ergenia, the Princess of Thrace, who approaches Hercules on behalf of her father, King Cotys (John Hurt), with an offer to train their armies against the warlord Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann). It turns out that Cotys is actually the bloodthirsty one, and Ergenia was going along with his plot to imprison Rhesus out of fear of his violent wrath (he had killed her husband). Though the film did little to further Ferguson's career, it didn't hurt it, either, and it didn't take long for her to join a franchise that would showcase her talents as a star.
Mission: Impossible franchise (2015-2023)
Having become mostly known for historical epics, Rebecca Ferguson shook up her image by joining the "Mission: Impossible" series with the franchise's fifth installment, "Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation." The role of Ilsa Faust, a former MI6 agent thought to be working with a terrorist organization known as The Syndicate, was a radical change of pace for the actor, who proved she could kick butt with the best of them here. In the end, it turns out she's on the side of Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team of crime stoppers. Ferguson proved to be such an invaluable player that she returned for the next film, "Mission: Impossible – Fallout," once again helping Ethan take down a madman hell-bent on global destruction.
By the time she returned for "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One," Ilsa had become a major supporting player and in many ways served as the emotional center of the series. Fans of the franchise know Ethan Hunt doesn't have the best luck with women and has kept himself from forming lasting relationships out of fear for his partner's safety. There's the slightest hint of a romance between him and Ilsa, perhaps because she knows what it's like to face death as part of your job. That's why her fate in "Dead Reckoning" is so devastating. Here's hoping that scene on the bridge was just a clever piece of misdirection and Ilsa will be back.
Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)
If action blockbusters aren't exactly your thing, you might be wondering if you remember Rebecca Ferguson from anything a bit more prestigious. The art house crowd likely saw her in "Florence Foster Jenkins," directed by the very high brow Stephen Frears ("The Queen," "Dangerous Liaisons"). She plays Kathleen Weatherley, the live-in mistress of former Shakespearean actor St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant). Although he's carrying on a long term affair, Bayfield is devoted to his wife, Florence (Meryl Streep), who contracted syphilis from her first husband. With the help of pianist Cosmé McMoon (Simon Helberg), Florence decides to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an opera singer, despite having no musical talents.
Ferguson's performance was somewhat overlooked, with Streep, Grant, and Helberg earning the lion's share of praise and accolades (Streep received an Oscar nomination for best actress that year). Yet, the role — which was kind of thankless to begin with — did go a long way in showing what Ferguson could do with even a small amount of screen time, and it proved that she could hold her own alongside veteran performers. And, considering her only other English-language films up to that point were "Hercules" and "Mission: Impossible – Rouge Nation," it also showed she was equally at home in small scale comedic dramas as she was in big budget spectacles.
The Girl on the Train (2016)
If you were in an airport lobby at any point in 2015, chances are you bought a copy of Paula Hawkins' bestseller "The Girl on the Train" before boarding your flight. Hawkins' debut novel was such a hot property that the movie rights were snatched up before it was even published. It became a starring vehicle for Emily Blunt as Rachel Watson, a depressed alcoholic who regularly harasses her ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux).
Rebecca Ferguson plays Anna, Tom's new wife, and Haley Bennett co-stars as Megan Hipwell, Tom and Anna's babysitter and neighbor. Rachel is obsessed with Megan's seemingly perfect life with her husband, Scott (Luke Evans), and one day while following her she thinks she sees something fishy happen. She awakens the next day covered in blood, and learns that Megan has gone missing. Since she was drunk that night, she can't remember what happened, and tries to put the piece together.
Although it got a mixed reception from critics, the film was a box office success and Blunt was nominated for best leading actress at both the SAG awards and the BAFTAs. As was the case with "Florence Foster Jenkins," the role of the other woman was a tad thankless for Ferguson, but at least this time there was a twist: Since her husband is actually a murderer, she has to team up with Rachel to take him down, and they do so in a satisfyingly gruesome fashion.
Life (2017)
Rebecca Ferguson was dabbling in science fiction long before "Dune," most notably in this claustrophobic space thriller. "Life" centers on a group of scientists who discover alien lifeforms while on a mission to Mars. What starts out as a cute little micro-being — nicknamed "Calvin" — quickly morphs into a terrifying monster, one that could end human existence if it makes its way back to Earth. Ferguson plays Dr. Miranda North, an astronaut whose background as a CDC scientist leads her to push for drastic quarantine measures before the creature can infect the entire crew.
"Life" did fairly decent business when it opened, earning $100 million at the worldwide box office. Reviews were generally positive, with many critics praising it as a fun popcorn flick. "If you're looking for a competent 'Alien' knock-off or just a way to kill a couple hours, you could do far worse," wrote David Sims in The Atlantic. "It ain't rocket science, but it does what it does well — even, one might say, with a kind of genius," said Michael O'Sullivan in The Washington Post. "'Life' is tense and unnerving and a total bummer. But it's still worth it," said Richard Lawson in Vanity Fair. For Ferguson, who received top billing alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds, "Life" was another successful notch in her ever-expanding movie star belt.
The Snowman (2017)
"The Girl on the Train" isn't the only based-on-a-bestseller adaptation in Rebecca Ferguson's filmography, though the other one isn't as well known. "The Snowman" was met with a rather chilly reception when it opened. Panned by critics and ignored by audiences, it failed to capitalize on the popularity of its source material. Director Tomas Alfredson later blamed the film's issues on a rushed production schedule. "Our shoot time in Norway was way too short, we didn't get the whole story with us and when we started cutting we discovered that a lot was missing," he told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (via IndieWire). "It's like when you're making a big jigsaw puzzle and a few pieces are missing so you don't see the whole picture."
Adapted from one of Jo Nesbø's long-running series of Detective Harry Hole novels, the film stars Michael Fassbender as Hole, a Norwegian police detective trying to track down the elusive Snowman Killer (if you didn't see the movie, you've likely seen the memes of the Snowman's taunting letters to Hole). Ferguson plays Katrine Bratt, a brilliant young recruit using the skills she learned at the academy to help Hole find the killer before he can strike again. Though the film was a failure, Ferguson escaped relatively unscathed and quickly put the experience behind her.
The Greatest Showman (2017)
"The Greatest Showman" was one of the surprise successes of 2017 — surprising in part because it was greeted with such a lukewarm critical reception when it opened. Yet, the film proved to have strong legs at the box office, grossing almost $435 million around the globe. It's easy to understand why it appealed to audiences, since the songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are very catchy (one of them, "This is Me," earned an Oscar nomination), and the cast is packed with A-listers. Hugh Jackman stars as P.T. Barnum, a benevolent traveling showman who amasses a troupe of oddball performers to create the Barnum & Bailey Circus (the real life P.T. Barnum was not a noble man, several sources have confirmed).
Ferguson plays Jenny Lind, aka the Swedish Nightingale, a renowned opera singer who is persuaded by Barnum to travel to America to perform in his traveling circus. In the film, Lind takes a liking to Barnum and leaves the troupe when he doesn't reciprocate her romantic advances. Although the role gave Ferguson the opportunity to perform in her native Swedish accent, she proved less capable at recreating the real life Lind's singing voice. So, unlike Hugh Jackman, who sings his own songs in the film, Ferguson had her singing voice dubbed by "The Voice" contestant Loren Allred. You'd never know it, given how well she sells her performance of the showstopper "Never Enough."
Doctor Sleep (2019)
In 2019, Rebecca Ferguson joined forces with genre maestro Mike Flanagan, who's been responsible for some of the best horror offerings of recent years, including "Oculus," "Gerald's Game," and the brilliantly twisty "The Haunting of Hill House." Though it was arguably Flanagan's biggest project to date, the director's adaptation of Stephen King's "Doctor Sleep" (a sequel to both King's legendary novel "The Shining" and Stanley Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of it) remains one of his most, ahem, slept-on films. That's a legitimate shame, because it's also one of Flanagan's best.
Set decades after the events of "The Shining," "Doctor Sleep" finds an adult Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) largely suppressing his powerful gifts. He befriends a young woman (Kyliegh Curran) whose Shine is even greater than his. Eventually, the powerful pair teams up to battle a nefarious cult called the True Knot, who gain extraordinarily long life by consuming the psychic essence of those who Shine by brutally murdering said Shiners — a fact group leader Rose the Hat seems to enjoy. Yes, that was Ferguson portraying the vile Rose in "Doctor Sleep," and yes, it remains one of the actor's finest performances to date.
Men in Black: International (2019)
If you forgot that Rebecca Ferguson was in "Men in Black: International," you're not alone — in fact, this failed franchise re-starter has pretty faded from memory altogether at this point. The fourth "MIB" film was the first one not to feature either Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and their absence is felt in this ill-advised attempt to reboot the franchise without them. They're replaced by Chris Hemsworth as veteran Agent H and Tessa Thompson as rookie Agent M, and, try as they might, there's no duplicating the chemistry between Agents J and K (Smith and Jones). The plot finds the two trying to stop aliens from destroying Earth, including Ferguson as Riza Stavros, an alien arms dealer who once had a romantic fling with Agent H.
Critics were far from kind to the film, and its lackluster performance at the box office killed any chance of further sequels featuring Hemsworth and Thompson. Many of the problems were attributed to fights between director F. Gary Gray and producer Walter F. Parkes, who produced the first three movies in the franchise. Parkes reportedly had a hand in rewrites of the script, removing a great deal of social commentary involving current immigration issues, and he apparently argued with Gray about the final cut, causing the director to try to leave the project on numerous occasions. Those issues are on display in the final product, which was quickly forgotten by all involved.
Reminiscence (2021)
Rebecca Ferguson reteamed with Hugh Jackman for the noir-tinged sci-fi flick "Reminiscence" in 2021. The film was written and directed by one of the people behind the mind-bending HBO series "Westworld," Lisa Joy (making her feature film debut). Jackman portrays Nick, a Miami-based private detective who breaks cases by using a groundbreaking technology to study memories. Nick's life is thrown into flux when he falls for the enigmatic femme fatale Mae (Ferguson) and promptly spirals into an obsessive search for the truth when she mysteriously vanishes. What follows is a stylish detective tale that's chock full of style but lacks substance.
Not many people actually saw "Reminiscence" when it was released early in 2021, despite the film debuting on streaming platform the same day hit theaters. Critics weren't impressed with it, though most of the detractors took aim at Joy. Rex Reed of the Observer couldn't get past the "corny script and the static direction," and Mark Feeney of the Boston Globe was equally unimpressed. "Joy doesn't lack for ideas," he wrote. "It's just that there are too many and few of them original." However, many critics agreed that the performances of Jackman and Ferguson were a bright spark in an otherwise dull picture.
Silo (2023)
Rebecca Ferguson came to prominence on the small screen with "The White Queen," and she made a triumphant return to it after becoming a bonafide movie star. Adapted from a series of books by Hugh Howey, "Silo" is set in a dystopian future in which all of society has been forced underground by toxic pollution and nuclear war. What's left of humanity lives in a silo run by rigid hierarchies and regulations. Ferguson plays Juliette Nichols, an engineer who toils away in the lowest level of the silo. Juliette teams up with the local sheriff, Holston Becker (David Oyelowo), to investigate a mysterious suicide which she claims was actually a murder. Bit by bit, she begins to take the investigation into her own hands.
The first season of "Silo" premiered on Apple TV+ to critical acclaim. Ferguson got some of the best reviews of her career, standing out among a cast that includes Rashida Jones, Tim Robbins, and Common. "The show belongs to Ferguson, who imbues Juliette with just the right blend of skepticism and intelligence," raved Brian Tallerico for RogerEbert.com. "Ferguson is the star, and she brings a muscular determination to the proceedings and even occasional touches of humor," praised Daniel Fienberg in The Hollywood Reporter. "A deglamorized, tattooed Ferguson nicely balances tough and vulnerable as the highly complex Juliette," wrote Bob Strauss in the San Francisco Chronicle. Juliette is without a doubt one of Ferguson's most beloved characters to date.