The Justin Bieber of Hong Kong is hiding out in Toronto

Justin Bieber would have to make like Johnny Depp and buy himself an island in order to go outside without being bombarded by hordes of teenage girls. But for Hong Kong actor Maggie Q (whom you may remember from such action films as Mission Impossible III and Live Free or Die Hard), Toronto is a perfect hideout. While some Canadians won’t recognize her name, in Asia, Q provokes a paparazzi feeding frenzy everywhere she goes; it’s even worse than Bieber fever because of the enormous demand for celebrity gossip in Hong Kong. “You’re incredibly recognizable wherever you go,” she told New York. “I could never have a boyfriend. I couldn’t grocery shop for myself. I got very depressed by it.”

That’s why she’s happy to be in Toronto while filming episodes for a new version of the martial arts assassin thriller Nikita (it’s the third remake of Luc Besson’s 1990 film La Femme Nikita), a field in which she has garnered much expertise, having been plucked from the modelling circuit and trained by Jackie Chan. Q is rumoured to be returning to her role as the hot chick alongside Tom Cruise for Mission Impossible IV. In the meantime, look out for her at farmers’ markets; Q’s already joined in on our local food obsession.

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