Rebecca Ferguson has been confirmed in a new romantic comedy film Honeymoon/Funeral, but how much do you know about the actress?
After weeks of speculation, it has been confirmed that Rebecca Ferguson and Greta Lee are to play the leads in a new romantic comedy called Honeymoon/Funeral, Deadline has revealed.
The movie has been filming in London in recent weeks, which has led to plenty of media rumours, which until the story broke had not been confirmed.
Nahnatchka Khan is directing Honeymoon/Funeral, with a script written by Julia Bicknell. The plot sees two women meet on a flight from Los Angeles to London. One is en route to her honeymoon – on her own after being jilted at the altar by her girlfriend – while the other is returning home for her mother’s funeral, and they end up spending the week together.
This is the latest high profile project for Rebecca, who currently stars in – and executive produces – Silo on Apple TV, and was recently in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
But how much do you know about Rebecca Ferguson? Here are some facts you might not know about her.
Rebecca was born and raised in Sweden
Rebecca was born in Sweden to a Swedish father and English mother. Her mother had moved to Sweden at age 25. She attended an English-speaking school in Sweden, but was raised bilingual.
Professionally, Rebecca uses her mother’s surname rather than that of her father, which is Sundstrom.
Rebecca worked other jobs before deciding to become an actress
When she was a teenager, Rebecca briefly did modelling work, but she didn’t like being photographed and often turned down jobs. However, her modelling portfolio did help Rebecca to get her first acting job after it was seen by a Swedish casting agency.
But Rebecca was initially unsure if she wanted to pursue acting as a career, and had several part-time jobs in this period, including working as a nanny at a daycare nursery, as a cleaner in a hotel, as well as jobs in retail and hospitality.
Her mother worked with ABBA
Rebecca has a link to one of the biggest pop bands ever through her mother. She helped to translate the lyrics of the group’s 1975 breakthrough album Waterloo from Swedish into English.
Her mother also appeared on the cover of ABBA’s self-titled 1975 album – she is the woman sitting cross-legged on a chair on the back cover. Rebecca revealed this on an appearance on a British chat show in 2018.
Her first breaks were in soap operas
The first role to bring Rebecca to widespread prominence was as Anna Gripenhielm, an upper-class girl in the Swedish soap opera Nya tider from 1999-2000. She then appeared in Swedish-American soap Ocean Ave as Chrissy Eriksson in 2002.
However, it was still some years before she became a big star, with the 2011 movie A One-Way Trip to Antibes bringing a nomination for the Rising Star award at the Stockholm International Film Festival.
Rebecca performed her own stunts in Mission: Impossible
Tom Cruise is famous for performing many of his own stunts in the Mission: Impossible franchise, but he isn’t the only one who does. When filming Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation Rebecca did all her own stunts, and she worked hard beforehand to ensure she could. This included undertaking a six-week training schedule that saw her work for six hours every day on fitness including Pilates, as well as fight choreography and stunt practice.
Rebecca doesn’t use elevators
While Rebecca is known for doing her own stunts, they will never involve elevators. The reason for this is simple – Rebecca is claustrophobic, so enclosed spaces such as elevators cause great stress.
