Actress finds new universe through role in ‘Star Wars’
You could say that “Star Wars” star Daisy Ridley has science fiction in her blood. The 25-year-old English actress did, after all, grow up in London with a father who is a passionate fan of, uh, “Star Trek.”
“I wasn’t that girl pumping hard on her bike, pretending that I was piloting the Millennium Falcon,” she said. “He is still a huge fan of ‘Star Trek.’”
Nowadays, Ridley is on the “Star Wars” side of that great fan divide. Working with a real lightsaber will do that to you.
“You actually feel as epic as you’d think you would feel, holding that lightsaber,” said Ridley, who returns for a second outing as the resourceful rebel Rey in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” opening Friday in theaters nationwide.
“It’s really heavy, so you feel the weight of the moment in so many ways. And the first time it lights up each day, it truly is magical.”
Ridley, to be sure, is a lateblooming fangirl.
“I was never a major fan of anything growing up,” Ridley
said, “but now I completely get why people live for ‘Star Wars.’ It’s about unity and positivity. In a world of awful divisiveness, it’s wonderful that everyone can be brought together with a movie.
“Yes, it’s only a film, but it seems like so much more to everyone.”
Asked whether Rey and Luke Skywalker are related by blood, Ridley smiled. A follow-up question about whether Rey’s last name is Skywalker yielded a hearty laugh.
“I actually watched the new film a few weeks ago, and it’s so much different,” Ridley said. “The new movie is its own thing. It’s about how people collide and the consequences of every single person’s actions.
“What I can tell you is that Rey is on much more of an emotional journey this time around. She gets to ask questions about herself and the world around her. She’s trying to figure out where she came from.”
She’s also trying to figure out her last name — not that Ridley would be much help with that.
“It’s funny, you want to give people some of the answers, but you know that they don’t really want them,” she said. “As we do get closer to the release date of the film, it is exciting to feel the countdown to the answers, but I need to be careful.
“Even I look at the trailers and think, ‘Oh, God, they’re showing so much.’”
Two years ago, when “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” faded to the credits, Rey had finally come face-to-face with Luke Skywalker.
“Now it’s time to go deeper in Rey’s story,” Ridley said. “Rey has certain expectations as for what she might be getting from Luke — but, as a lot of people know, it’s difficult to meet your heroes because it might not be what you expected.”
Three weeks after “The Force Awakens” opened, Ridley was back on the “Star Wars” set — albeit not as an unknown actress hoping to make good.
“My trailer the second time around was bigger than my flat,” she said jokingly.
The bigger trailer, of course, coincided with the bigger expectations attached to “The Last Jedi.”
“I felt more responsibility and personal pressure this time out,” she acknowledged.
“The first time I played Rey, I think I had this cushion around me. Luckily, the response to ‘The Force Awakens’ was so amazing — but, coming back for the second time, I felt the weight of it. I thought, ‘You should know what you’re doing.’
“Luckily, the writing was great, so that made it easy.”
But the second movie led to a fresh experience, she said.
“This was a different film for me. I knew it would be challenging because I’m with different combinations of people in this movie instead of the few I was with in the last film.”
Expectations and challenges notwithstanding, Ridley savored the chance to get another dose of Rey’s particular brand of heroism.
“Strong, empowered females have always inhabited the ‘Star Wars’ universe,” she said. “But I think, more than ever, it’s important to understand the importance of presenting this character of Rey.
“On a daily basis, people always come up and congratulate me for bringing girl power to the screen, and that makes me happy. Rey doesn’t back down.”
In a separate interview, director Rian Johnson said Ridley is a good match for the role.
“Rey has so much bravery, humor and depth,” Johnson said. “That’s why so many people want to be Rey. You need a strong actress to bring that kind of character to the screen. Just as people looked up to Carrie Fisher’s portrayal of Princess Leia, they’re looking up to Daisy now.”
Rey’s weapon of choice, Ridley said, oftens becomes a conversation starter,
“I’m always asked what kind of lightsaber I’d like in real life,” she said with a laugh, “and my answer is, ‘It would have to be pink and glittery.’”
Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley grew up in London as the youngest of three daughters. Her great-uncle was actor/ playwright Arnold Ridley, best-known as Private Godfrey on the British sitcom “Dad’s Army” (1968-77).
Daisy won a scholarship to the Tring Park School for Performing Arts, where she studied musical theater, ballet and tap dancing.
Her first jobs were guest shots on British TV shows. She made her big-screen debut in the British indie horror film “Scrawl” (2015).
Then filmmaker J.J. Abrams cast her as Rey in “The Force Awakens,” making her an overnight sensation. Other than “Star Wars,” the only film she has done since is “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017), in which she plays murder suspect Mary Debenham.
That won’t be the case for long.
Among her upcoming films is “A Woman of No Importance,” in which she’ll play Virginia Hall, an American who worked as a spy for British intelligence during World War II.
She will play the title role in “Ophelia,” a reimagining of “Hamlet” told from Ophelia’s point of view.
And she’ll co-star with Tom Holland in “Chaos Walking,” a science-fiction drama set in a dystopian world without women.
Ridley will return as Rey in the next “Star Wars” episode, set for release in 2019. After that, she has said, she’ll be done with the role: “There is so much (more) I want to do.”