# The “incredible” 2017 role Rebecca Ferguson didn’t trust herself to pull off: “I can’t do it”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-incredible-2017-role-rebecca-ferguson-didnt-trust-herself-to-pull-off-i-cant-do-it/
- Published: 2026-11-09T00:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-09T01:36:05+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-incredible-2017-role-rebecca-ferguson-didnt-trust-herself-to-pull-off/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Ferguson nearly turned down *Life* because she doubted herself.
- A conversation with its director changed her mind.
- Science fiction later became a major part of her career.

## Summary

In 2017’s science-fiction horror film *Life*, Rebecca Ferguson played a member of an International Space Station crew confronting a dangerous organism from Mars. She initially doubted she could meet the script’s standard, having never made a science-fiction film, but a conversation with director Daniel Espinosa persuaded her to take the role.

The film also starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds, and its creature, nicknamed Calvin, grows from a small organism into a threat to the crew. Ferguson later made science fiction a major part of her career, including roles in *Dune*, *Silo* and *Reminiscence*. *Life* arrived seven weeks before Ridley Scott’s *Alien: Covenant* and was strongly influenced by the *Alien* films.

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