Actress Maggie Q ("Mission Impossible 3," "Live Free, Die Hard" and the upcoming "Priest") will star as "Nikita" in the new CW series set to premiere on September 9th.
The series stars Maggie Q as Nikita, Lyndsy Fonseca as Alex, Shane West as Michael, Aaron Stanford as Birkhoff, Ashton Holmes as Thom, Tiffany Hines as Jaden, with Melinda Clarke as Amanda and Xander Berkeley as Percy.
According to THR, the casting of Maggie Q is particularly significant as it jumps off an iconic character historically portrayed as Caucasian, first by Anne Parillaud in Luc Besson's original 1990 film, followed by Bridget Fonda in the 1993 redo "Point of No Return" and Peta Wilson in the 1997 USA Network series.
The CW pilot's premise of a new Nikita being trained to replace the original one after she goes rogue gave creator Craig Silverstein an opportunity to break the stereotype, and he wrote the lead as "beautiful and exotic."
Born Maggie Denise Quigley to a Polish-Irish American father (originally based in New York) and a Vietnamese mother, her father met her mother during the Vietnam War, she first gained stardom in Hong Kong as a model and actress.
She changed her name to the easily pronounceable "Maggie Q" (for the Chinese audience) and later had a cameo in the Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker film "Rush Hour 2" which led to a larger role as one of the supporting cast in "Mission: Impossible 3," starring Tom Cruise and the role of the villain's girlfriend in "Live Free Die Hard" starring Bruce Willis.
For more about the new "Nikita" series, go to: http://cwtv.com/shows/nikita
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