More commerce followed in 2007, when Maggie played opposite Bruce Willis as Mai Linh in Live Free or Die Hard. That same year, she was also Maggie in Balls of Fury. The next year, Q stepped up to her first Chinese costume drama as the fictional Cao Ying, a granddaughter of the warlord Cao Cao in Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon. In the West, she appeared in the thriller Deception with Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman.

Maggie Q is also big in pixels, starring in the Need for Speed: Undercover installment of the video game series. Naturally, she is the seductive lead character, federal agent Chase Linh, who is the player's only contact to the Tri-City Police.

In 2010, Maggie made a splash on the CW network's new version of Nikita. Based on Luc Besson's movie La Femme Nikita, which already inspired an American movie and TV series. The new version takes up where the old series left off, with Nikita escaped from her murderous former employers and interfering with their nefarious plots. Q resembles to Anne Parillaud, the slightly built but energetic French brunette who originated the role.

Maggie Quigley has been a vegetarian for many years, and was featured in two almost nude ads for PETA Asia-Pacific. She was also responsible for the removal of all real fur from the wardrobe on Three Kingdoms. In 2008, Maggie was name PETA Asia-Pacific's "Person of the Year," and as one of its "Best-Dressed Celebrities."

Q has three tattoos, one being a phoenix on her hip, which she has had to conceal for most of her roles, but is nicely visible at times in Nikita. She lives in Los Angeles with her seven rescued dogs. Maggie is a lifelong advocate for animals, working a number of groups.

"I remember being a child and feeling a really close connection to the natural world," she told peoplepets.com. "Dogs, birds, cats, rabbits it didn't matter. They were my refuge. That connection helped me through a lot of awkward stages."

Shortly after moving to Hong Kong, and before her success, she stopped by the local SPCA to make a donation although "I was really poor at the time," Maggie told the interviewer. Of course, she went to look at the dogs and fell in love with a white puppy.