Daisy Ridley Verifies ‘Tomb Raider’ Rumors — She Wants To Play Lara Croft
Earlier this month, the Inquisitr reported that Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley was being considered for a new film adaptation of the popular video game Tomb Raider. While many fans were excited at the prospect of Ridley playing the iconic character Lara Croft, it was only a rumor. Until today.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Daisy Ridley is on board for portraying Lara Croft in the next series of Tomb Raider movies, but she’s still waiting for someone to approach her with an offer. On Sunday, Daisy Ridley attended the Empire Awards in London and confirmed that there “have been conversations” about her playing Lara Croft.
“I’m waiting for someone to say ‘I want you, let’s do it’,” said Daisy Ridley.
Not only did Star Wars: The Force Awakens impress critics and Star Wars fans alike, viewers were also pleasantly surprised with Daisy Ridley’s character. Director J.J. Abrams accused past Star Wars films of being a “boy’s club,” with few strong female characters for girls to look up to, which is why he made sure Rey was strong, complex, and independent. This could make Lara Croft the perfect new role for Daisy Ridley.
However, while Rey was celebrated for not being overtly sexualized, the Tomb Raider protagonist has been a notorious sexual icon in video games since her very first game. But Daisy Ridley doesn’t seem to be afraid of the challenges that the role of Lara Croft might present. She’s down for the job as long as she has time between filming new Star Wars films.
“Absolutely, I’m trying to fill up my calendar,” Daisy Ridley said.
Her Force Awakens co-star John Boyega is also on board for the idea of Daisy Ridley playing Lara Croft. In fact, he claims to have thought of it on his own.
“I played Tomb Raider the game, it’s a new take and I think the movies are going to be based on that version,” Boyega said. “But I texted Daisy [and] was like, ‘this is you!’ and ‘you need to get on that because you could be Lara Croft.’ She should be.”
Bustle agrees with Boyega and provides a list of reasons why Daisy Ridley would be perfect for the role.
Regardless of who plays Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider reboot is definitely happening, and Angelina Jolie will not be returning. According to Entertainment Weekly, the next installment will be directed by Roar Uthaug and more closely based around the Tomb Raider video games that inspired it.
The games themselves recently went through a reboot, changing Lara Croft into less of a sexualized caricature and more into a real person. Uthaug claims that this is the same direction he wants to take the movies in.
“I think making Lara Croft feel like a real human being, that’s definitely something we want to bring to the big screen as well.”
This decision may make Daisy Ridley the perfect actress to play the newer, more realistic Lara Croft. You can see in the photos below that the character’s redesign greatly toned down certain exaggerated body types in favor of more realistic proportions.
Strangely, Daisy Ridley was recently criticized for setting “unrealistic expectations” for women in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, according to a previous report by the Inquisitr. But the actress responded with grace and kindness. Read her response here.
What do you think? Would Daisy Ridley make the perfect Lara Croft? Will you be seeing the new Tomb Raider film?
[Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images]
