Maggie Q is Nikita

The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop that the CW has cast "Mission Impossible III" and "Live Free or Die Hard" star Maggie Q in their new take on "Nikita."

In a pilot season shaping up as the most diverse ever for leads in dramas, Maggie Q is in talks to play the title character in the CW's "Nikita" reboot.

The casting of Maggie Q is particularly significant as it jumps off an iconic character historically portrayed as Caucasian, first by Anne Parillaud in Luc Besson's 1990 film, followed by Bridget Fonda in the 1993 redo "Point of No Return" and Peta Wilson in the 1997 USA Network series.

The CW pilot's premise of a new Nikita being trained to replace the original one after she goes rogue gave creator Craig Silverstein an opportunity to break the stereotype, and he wrote the lead as "beautiful and exotic."

The pending hire of Maggie Q in "Nikita," from WBTV and McG's Wonderland, would mark the highest-profile series role for an Asian actress on a broadcast drama series and the highest-profile CW minority casting in the network's four-year history.

Hawaii-born Maggie Q made a name for herself as a Hong Kong action movie star before landing roles in "Mission: Impossible III" and "Live Free or Die Hard."

I first saw Maggie Q in an English language Hong Kong film called "Naked Weapon" (Mind out the gutter gentlemen, posted a trailer below for those curious) and it was basically a riff on the Nikita premise, Maggie certainly has the right ingredients for the role so best of luck to her and the show.