Coming off of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Rebecca Ferguson is quickly becoming one of the most sought out actresses in the industry. She recently tested for the role of Belladonna Boudreaux aka Bella in the X-Men spinoff/Channing Tatum-starring vehicle Gambit. Lea Seydoux (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Spectre) and Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road, Neon Demon) also tested for the role.

But it looks like Ferguson may have passed on it as there are reports that she is in talks to have a role in The Girl on the Train, an adaptation of Paula Hawkins novel, which will be directed by Tate Taylor (The Help). More on the story below.

Deadline reports that if Ferguson does sign on, she would star opposite Emily Blunt. In the film, Blunt plays “a recent divorcee who narrates the tale and spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple who live in a house that her train passes every day. One morning, she sees something shocking happen there and becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds.”

Hawkins’ film is described as a Hitchcockian thriller, with our divorcee becoming tangled in a web of lies having just woken up from a bender covered in blood.

As aforementioned, Ferguson was on the shortlist for Gambit, however, now that she has attached herself for The Girl on the Train, it looks like she isn’t in the running for the former.

Ferguson will play the role of Anna. There are three main female roles in the thriller. We’ll keep you posted on who will land the role of the third female in the film. No word yet on when production will begin or when the film will be released. Here’s a book synopsis from Amazon:

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life””as she sees it””is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut.

[Source: Deadline]