Maggie Denise Quigley was born to a Polish-Irish American father (originally based in New York) and a Vietnamese mother. Her father met her mother during the Vietnam War. Maggie has two older step-siblings from her mother's previous marriage, and two older sisters. The family moved to Hawaii and settled in Mililani.

Maggie dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but modeled and found herself bursting onto the Hong Kong movie scene - eventually becoming a full-fledged superstar in Asia. She changed her name to the easily pronounceable "Maggie Q" (for the Chinese audience). She had a cameo in the Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker smash hit Rush Hour 2 and is part of the supporting cast in Mission: Impossible III, starring Tom Cruise.
Of Vietnamese and Irish-American descent. Raised in Hawaii. Was a fashion model and television personality before she became a movie actress. Spokesmodel for Shiseido cosmetics. Is the youngest of five children. Although she is actually Vietnamese-American (born and raised in Hawaii), Maggie pursued modeling careers first in Japan, then Taiwan, then Hong Kong. Her transition into acting was almost coincidental and since then she has become both a top model and actress in Hong Kong, along with garnering a certain amount of fame across Asia. For her first several Hong Kong films, since Maggie could not actually speak Cantonese - she actually had to learn her lines phonetically. Some lines may also have been dubbed. Mentions in an interview that her favorite food is Vietnamese food, since that's the food she grew up with at home. Attended Mililani High School with Traycee King. Her mother is a property investor. Was cast in Live Free or Die Hard without an audition. Is Eurasian like fellow actresses Devon Aoki, China Chow, Kelly Hu, Traycee King, Kristin Kreuk, Jaymee Ong and actors Andrew Johnston, Brandon Lee, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Begonia, Rob Schneider, Russell Wong, and Michael Wong. Posed for renowned Singaporean photographer Leslie Kee for Kee's 2006 charity photo-book "Super Stars", dedicated to the victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster, which consists of photographs of 300 Asian celebrities by Kee. Is a vegetarian.