Who is Maggie Q?
Margaret Denise Quigley is an actress who has appeared in films and on television in the United States. Maggie Q is her stage name, and she is well-known. Her initial ambition was to become a veterinary scientist, but she was unable to do so due to her family’s financial constraints.
She moved away from her homeland of Honolulu in order to earn enough money to pursue her goal. Her journey took her to Tokyo, where she began her modeling career, and then to Taipei, before landing in Hong Kong.
While in Hong Kong, she met superstar Jackie Chan, who took a shine to her right away. Chan saw her genuine talent and gave her extensive training in how to become an action star. She made her television debut in the drama ‘House of the Dragon’ in 1998. She starred in her debut feature film, ‘Model from Hell,’ two years later. Q’s performance in her next film, ‘Gen-Y Cops,’ led to her first role in a Hollywood picture, Brett Ratner’s ‘Rush Hour 2.’ She has worked in both the Chinese and American film industries since then. She is presently starring in ‘Designated Survivors’ as Hannah Wells.
Maggie Q: Bio, Age, Ethnicity, Sibling
- Margaret Denise Quigley was born on May 22, 1979, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Vietnam veteran and his property investor wife. While stationed in Vietnam, her father, who is of Irish and Polish origin, met her Vietnamese mother. She has two older sisters and two half-siblings from her mother’s previous marriage.
- She was a fantastic student. Before attending Mililani High School, she attended Mililani Waena Elementary School and Wheeler Intermediate School, where she was a member of the cross country, track and field, and swim teams.
- She intended to study veterinary medicine after graduating in 1997, and she even won an athletic scholarship from a private university. However, it became clear to her quickly that her family would be unable to financially fund her academic ambitions. As a result, she made the decision to leave Honolulu in order to save enough money to continue her schooling.
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Quick Facts
- Also Known As: Margaret Denise Quigley
- Age: 43 Years
- Spouse/Ex-: Dylan McDermott
- Actresses American Women
- Height: 5’6″ (168 cm), 5’6″ Females
- Ancestry: Vietnamese American, Polish American, Irish American
- U.S. State: Hawaii
- City: Honolulu, Hawaii
Professional Career
- Margaret Quigley came to Tokyo, Japan, when she was 17 years old, on the advice of a friend to begin her modeling career. She then moved to Taipei, although she had little success there. She moved again, this time to Hong Kong, despite having little to no understanding of Cantonese, the local language. Maggie Q was her nickname during this time because the Chinese couldn’t pronounce Quigley correctly.
- When she met Jackie Chan, the most significant turning point in her career occurred. She learned the value of professionalism and the necessity of performing one’s own stunts under his guidance. Despite having never practiced martial arts before, her expertise in sports enabled her to complete the program effectively.
- Following the success of her first program, ‘House of the Dragon,’ she made a smooth transition to the big screen with films like ‘Model from Hell,’ ‘Gen-Y Cops,’ and ‘Manhattan Midnight,’ garnering the admiration of Chinese cinema fans in the process. Chan was so taken with her performance as Jane Quigley in ‘Gen-Y Cops’ that he cast her in a small role in his 2001 American feature ‘Rush Hours 2’.
- She was paired with Daniel Wu in her next production, the action thriller ‘Naked Weapon’ (2002). She starred in a number of Chinese films between 2003 and 2005, in both leading and supporting parts. She collaborated with Fann Wong and Philippe Brenninkmeyer on the German-Singaporean telemovie ‘House of Harmony’ (2005). For the documentary film ‘Earthlings (2005), which was narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, Q became a producer.
- She made her breakthrough as Zhen in Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible III’ in 2006. In the fourth installment of the Die Hard film series, ‘Live Free or Die Hard,’ she played a secondary antagonist (2007). These two films solidified her as a contender for the role of the next big action star in Hollywood.
- She played Maggie Wong in the sports comedy ‘Balls of Fury’ (2007), the mythical granddaughter of Chinese ruler Cao Cao in the Asian costume epic ‘Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon’ (2008), and was a member of the ensemble cast in the 2008 anthology film ‘New York, I Love You.’ In the same year, she played the alluring federal agent Chase Linh in the computer game ‘Need for Speed: Undercover.’
- In ‘The King of Fighters,’ a 2010 film based on SNK’s The King of Fighters series of fighting games, she plays Mai Shiranui. Q played Tori Wu in the Divergent trilogy, who becomes an essential and dependable friend to the main character Tris Prior over the course of the series (Shailene Woodley). She was also a member of the cast of the CBS crime drama ‘Stalker,’ which aired for only one season (2014-15).
- Hannah Wells, her character on ABC’s ‘Designated Survivor,’ is a clever and intelligent FBI agent. The second season of the show premiered on September 27, 2017.
- Maggie Q will be seen in the upcoming flicks “The Brits Are Coming” and “Slumber.” ‘Queen of Canton,’ a TV movie starring her as the legendary pirate Ching Shih, is also in the works.
Major Works
- Maggie Q portrayed the titular woman in The CW’s spy thriller ‘Nikita,’ which was based on Luc Besson’s 1990 film of the same name. The series told the narrative of Nikita, a former assassin who worked for a covert government-funded organization known as ‘Division,’ who returns after three years in hiding to orchestrate the organization’s demise. It was often compared to Joss Whedon’s ‘Dollhouse’ and ABC’s ‘Alias.’
- The show aired on The CW from September 9, 2010, to December 27, 2013, and was a critical and commercial success throughout its original run. Q’s acting earned a lot of attention, with one reviewer describing her as “a attraction” and saying that “she can be captivating on-screen.” She was nominated three times for the Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress: Action for the role (2011-13).
Achievements and Awards
- Maggie Q won Best Supporting Film Actress at the 2007 Asian Excellence Awards for her role in ‘Mission: Impossible III.’
- For ‘The Warrior and the Wolf,’ she got the Maverick Award at the 2009 Hawaii International Film Festival (2009).
Personal Life
- Maggie Q has previously dated actors Daniel Henney and Justin Long, as well as director Brett Ratner of “Rush Hours 2.” On the set of ‘Stalker,’ she met actor Dylan McDermott. In October 2014, they began dating. Their engagement was announced three months later, in January 2015.
- She has been an animal rights activist for years and was a part of PETA Asia’s vegetarianism campaign, for which she appeared nearly naked in one commercial, resting on a bed of crimson chili peppers with the words “Spice Up Your Life” printed over the image in beautiful typefaces. In a second commercial, she appeared with lettuce leaves artfully arranged next to the tagline, “Turn Over a New Leaf — Try Vegetarian!”
- She later became a vegan after eliminating all animal-based products from her diet. She was named one of the three “sexiest vegans” of 2017 by PETA.
- She has three tattoos on her body, one of which is a phoenix on her left hip.
- She has owned a historic country property in Pound Ridge, New York, since July 2013.
Trivia
- In her senior year of high school, she was named “Best Body.”
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