At a recent “Ballard” screening event hosted by PopViewers and Prime Video, Maggie Q took a moment to reflect on one of the most defining—and surreal—moments of her career: working alongside Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible III”.
The actress, now leading Prime Video’s latest police procedural as Detective Renée Ballard, described landing the blockbuster film nearly 20 years ago as her ultimate “Mama, I made it” moment.
“This was my first U.S. movie,” Maggie said, with a sense of awe still present in her voice. “I had never been around that level. I didn’t know what a movie star was until that movie.”
She recalled filming one of her earliest scenes with Cruise on the river Tiber in Rome, where thousands of fans lined the riverbanks just to catch a glimpse of the superstar. “There must have been five to seven thousand people just watching,” she said. “Just to see the top of his head. I would have been one of them!”
During a break between takes, Cruise—who hadn’t been present for her audition due to promoting “War of the Worlds” at the time—struck up a conversation with her. “So, what have you done?” he asked casually. Maggie admitted, “I’ve never done a film. This is my first.”
Cruise was stunned. “This is like a $150 million movie, and it’s your first film?” he said, laughing in disbelief.
That moment quickly became a full-circle initiation. Cruise turned to co-stars Ving Rhames and Jonathan Rhys Meyers to share the revelation. “This is Maggie’s first U.S. movie!” he announced. Cruise responded with wide-eyed surprise, then looked at her and said something that stuck: “Maggie, I swear to God, if I didn’t know that, I would think that you belonged here.”
That comment lit a fire in her. “I looked at him and said, ‘I do belong here,’” she recalled. Without missing a beat, Cruise smiled and replied: “You’re goddamn right you do.”
It was a moment of validation, pride, and purpose—one that Maggie Q clearly carries with her to this day.
From being the newcomer in a global action franchise to headlining her own series in the Bosch universe, Maggie Q’s career has come full circle. And for her, that first day on the river in Rome wasn’t just a scene in an action film—it was a declaration: she belonged. “Ballard” is streaming on Prime Video.
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