Fantasy Island star Maggie Q seeks to end injustice

In her new supernatural horror movie Fantasy Island, Maggie Q plays a woman who is full of regrets over paths not taken, feeling like her life has passed her by.

But the 40-year-old US actress herself is not one to look back, preferring to look forward instead.

Opening here tomorrow, the film is adapted from the 1970s TV series of the same name and is developed by Blumhouse Productions.

The enigmatic Mr Roarke (Michael Pena) makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious and remote tropical resort.

But when the fantasies become nightmares, the guests have to solve the island's mystery in order to escape with their lives.

Q's character Elena has the opportunity to make a grab for happiness by agreeing to a marriage proposal she rejected and is also given a second attempt to save her father from a fire.

Q, who split from US actor Dylan McDermott last year after a four-year engagement, said that while she does not believe in do-overs, everyone can look at their lives and recall how they did not treat people the way they wanted to or with certain emotions.

She told The New Paper over the phone from London: "I am happy with where I am now.

"I am happy with the lessons learnt and to be able to look back and work on making better decisions and go from there."

While she believes that marriage and children are incredibly important, she was never that person who dreamed of a wedding and bridal gown from a young age.

Said Q: "I have been very lucky, and I think it is also a personal decision that I have never felt pressured to get married.

"Nobody can make you feel anything, it is a choice to hear it (or not)."

A vegan and animal rights activist, Q has her own ideas of justice.

FREE

If she were granted two of her fantasies, she would like to change the people in power and to free all captives - both humans and animals alike.

Q, who first made a name for herself in Asia under the tutelage of Hong Kong action superstar Jackie Chan and went on to star in films such as Gen-Y Cops, Naked Weapon, Mission: Impossible III, Live Free Or Die Hard and the Divergent movies, said she signed up for Fantasy Island because there was a lot of heart put into the film.

She said: "We can see that there is a sort of change in direction of Blumhouse films where they are moving out of horror and venturing into the more psychological aspect of things. This was about an emotional journey, and it is very character-driven as compared to just providing entertainment for the audience."

Q added: "(My character) really grounds the movie - she is a character with real emotional depth, which is always fun to play.

"Right from the beginning, your heart breaks for her, and you want to see her get the life of happiness and peace that we all deserve - and she has to go through a hell of a journey if that is going to happen."

The movie features a racially diverse cast including Pena and Jimmy O. Yang.

Q, whose mother is Vietnamese, is more hopeful about the changing face of Hollywood as that was not the case when she was cast as the titular assassin in the TV series Nikita a decade ago.

"When I shot Nikita in 2010, I was one of the rare Asian Americans to be given the lead role in a show, and that was shocking to me.

"The challenge was huge, and it is as much as being who you are and what you have to offer. They put you in a box and it takes many years of work to convince otherwise."

Q feels the industry is forced to become more diverse because of what the global marketplace wants.

"For whatever reason it is happening, I hope it is not merely diversity for diversity's sake, because it does give people a platform to voice out, and I hope it becomes a creative decision rather than an economic one."