Daisy Ridley Says She Struggled With Seeing Potential In Herself For ‘Star Wars’ Role
Daisy Ridley is a name we’re hearing a lot of this month, and she’s well on her way to becoming a superstar as Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes over at the box office around the world. When she was first cast as Rey, she says, she had trouble believing she could pull it off.
As pretty much any actor would be, Daisy was a bit overwhelmed by the knowledge that she would be starring in not only a huge, blockbuster action movie, but the blockbuster action movie, possibly of the decade, with several veteran actors who had all done it several times before. Not only that, she would be acting in scenes opposite established, beloved characters and she’d have to make her own character — a desert scavenger who can pilot just about any ship — believable.
“It’s one thing for other people to see potential in you, and it’s quite another for you to understand that and see it in yourself. So of course everyone else being wonderful helps, but there’s a certain level of growth and stuff you have to do as a person. It’s just like life times a million,” Ridley told the Associated Press.
The 23-year-old says that director J.J. Abrams helped her get through the “terror” of training for months on end to portray Rey, who has lived in the desert for years and looked after herself. It also helped that she had co-star John Boyega with her throughout the journey, as well.
“We got on so well. It was so much fun all the time, and to have him with me through this whole thing, both in filming and afterward, has been incredible,” Daisy said.
Ridley and Boyega reportedly became close friends during the shoot, bonding over the monumental position they found themselves in and over music, as well; the duo would often sing duets during downtime. Daisy also sang with Oscar Isaac, who plays pilot Poe Dameron in the film.
A video posted by @daisyridley on
Ridley has quickly become a fan favorite, charming just about everyone she meets while doing promotional duties for the film on talk shows. Her Instagram and Twitter accounts have attracted thousands of followers, who declare their love for both her and Rey in the comments section.
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Ridley isn’t all that interested in being mega-famous, however, and few could blame her. With fame comes pressure, responsibility, and the exhaustion of constantly being in the spotlight. But, she says that if she is famous, at least it’s for a good cause.
“The fame side of things is a weird twist that I’m not kind of interested in. If I was going to be recognized for anything, ‘Star Wars’ is all right.”
Daisy told Hello! Magazine that she’d love it if fans could look up to Rey the way they do Jennifer Lawrence’s character Katniss from The Hunger Games, and that’s just what’s happening. Rey, who is a strong fighter and doesn’t rely on anyone else for help, is also not overly sexualized in the film.
“So many people look up to Jennifer Lawrence playing Katniss in The Hunger Games. For them to look up to Rey and what she represents would be fantastic. She’s a wonderful character… The reason I love her so much is she does all the fun stuff. She fights, runs and protects herself and has an incredible emotional story,” Ridley said.
Daisy recently joked in an interview that if she had the Force in real life, she’d use it to her advantage when she’s on the train and then realized there’s a lot more she could do with that kind of power.
“In the tube you have to walk on the left and stand on the right. People are so annoying, they always stand on the left. So I’d use the Force to shift them over to the right. This shows how great I am, because I have not talked about the problems of the world. I’ve talked about how annoying people are on the tube,” Daisy Ridley said.
[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
