From ‘Nikita’ to ‘ Ballard’: Maggie Q on breaking barriers and opening doors

International star Maggie Q plays Detective Renee Ballard in “Ballard,” the first Bosch Universe series led by a woman of color, a milestone she approaches with pride and a focus on craft.

“My primary focus was always do your best, do the work and do it well, and hopefully it will never be about being cast for a certain reason, it’ll be because of the quality of the work that you’re bringing,” the Vietnamese American actress told The Rebel Yellow.

Maggie said she was drawn immediately to the role by the strength of the scripts and the adaptation from Michael Connelly’s novels. She was given all 10 episodes and seven scripts before filming began, which she described as rare in the industry. “I just resonated right away. They were able to give me a really clear indication of what we were building, who she was, and why she mattered. It was like a cellular reaction,” she noted.

To prepare, Maggie spent extensive time in the real homicide library in Los Angeles, which she described as a haunting space filled with thousands of unsolved cases. “I walked into this giant room and it was just rows and rows and rows. I think there’s about 10,000 unsolved cases there. And you’re walking through just rows of these ghosts who are trying to speak to you,” she recalled. She also met with veteran detectives and received weapons training, some of which was new even for her. “We got into the weeds with this work,” she said.

Maggie highlighted her on-screen partnership with Titus Welliver, who plays Harry Bosch. Their off-screen relationship, she said, was foundational. “We really just wanted to get to know each other on a very personal level.” That connection translated into on-screen chemistry that anchors the series.

Reflecting on her career, Maggie said her early action roles like “Nikita” and “Mission Impossible 3” taught her important lessons about pacing and sustainability. “I went into those roles with gusto and movie energy… I got very burnt out. Now I’m older and wiser. This is how I pace myself. This is how I survived leading a show for all these months and still having something to give at the end.”

Maggie hopes her role opens doors for others. “When I did Nikita, that was the first Asian American lead in a drama ever and I didn’t know that. I thought, well, that’s ridiculous. Of course there’s been, there wasn’t. So what you want is to open doors and have opportunities for everyone that’s coming up. And I think it definitely does do that if you do the work right.”

“Ballard” is set to premiere on July 9 on Amazon Prime Video.