With films like The Greatest Showman, The Snowman and The Girl on the Train to her credit, the sexy Rebecca Ferguson is ready to scorch up the big screen again. Now, with Tom Cruise, a.k.a. Ethan Hunt, in Mission Impossible: Fallout. 

The sixth instalment of the hit spy franchise releases on July 27 and Rebecca will reprise her role from the Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust.

What strikes fans is the iconic character name. Ilsa is the same as the first name of Ingrid Bergman’s character in Casablanca, Ilsa Lund. This is the director’s way of subtly driving attention to the similarities he sees between Rebecca and Bergman, an actress from Hollywood’s golden era, according to superstar Cruise. 

“Rebecca is incredible. She is very charismatic and athletic with a dynamic presence that uniquely holds the screen” Cruise said about his co-star. 

Rebecca, on her character, said: “Ilsa works mostly for herself and to achieve what she needs to. We all have our different goals and agendas in this film. Sometimes they interact, and sometimes we put sticks in each other’s wheels, and that creates intense momentum.”