Rattlingly good role allows Daisy’s star quality to shine
DAISY RIDLEY was sandwiched between Penelope Cruz and Willem Dafoe. Kenneth Branagh was directing. And Judi Dench and Olivia Colman were just out of eyeshot . . . but not earshot.
‘So no pressure,’ the actress guffawed, as she told me about the first scene she shot for Branagh’s all-star film version of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express. Daisy said she’s always nervous during shooting — but she managed just fine in two Star Wars pictures (in which she plays young heroine Rey).
‘Before a scene my heart is pounding, every time,’ she admits. ‘But my first scene on Orient had to be in front of everyone, didn’t it? I couldn’t hold a cup, because it was rattling. But I got through it.’
The scene involved a confrontation
with Dafoe, and it’s clear from footage Branagh showed me that Ridley’s nerves didn’t get in the way of her performance as governess Mary Debenham, the film’s moral compass.
At 25, the actress was one of the youngest in a cast that also included Derek Jacobi, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Josh Gad and Lucy Boynton.
She auditioned for the part and was surprised to get it (touchingly, she still can’t fathom why she’s sent every script going). She deserves her luck, though, because I know how much graft she puts in before going for any audition or job.
I also know (and like) how she often turns up (without fanfare) when her friends are in a stage show. She’d love to do a play and has spoken to directors — but it won’t be until everything has been played out in that galaxy far, far away.
Murder On The Orient express opens on November 3; The Last Jedi on december 15.