Daisy Ridley, Slammed By Body Shamers, Encourages Love And Kindness


The trouble with fame is that while it brings you instant notice, you also seem to become an instant target. Daisy Ridley, who seemed to become an immediate sensation following her casting as Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has learned this almost instantly. The 23-year-old has recently been criticized for her appearance as the character during filming and has handled the comments with what seems to be characteristic frankness.

According to Glamour, an Instagram user accused Daisy Ridley of setting “unrealistic expectations” for females everywhere by appearing to be too thin in her role as Rey.

The meme, which depicts Daisy Ridley as Rey, says, “I can’t believe the unrealistic expectations I’m setting for young girls. Who cast me anyway? Don’t they know real women haves curves?”

Ridley responded to the meme almost immediately in a post that she later deleted.

The post said, “Real women are all shapes and sizes, all ethnicities, all levels of brave, have families, don’t have families. I’m a ‘real woman’ like every other women in this world.”

Daisy Ridley then took to her Instagram post and noted that more often than not, she’d received “gorgeous messages” from others and said she was not going to be sorry for how she looked, noting that Rey was about so much more than her appearance.

The Guardian noted that she said, “People…relate to something in Rey they haven’t found in a female character before. People who’s [sic] daughters now think they can do things without the aid of a man.”

Daisy Ridley also noted that she shared some interesting parallels with Rey.

“I’m an ordinary girl thrust into extraordinary circumstances, just like Rey,” she said in her post.

She noted that it “seems apt” that she received the body shaming posts following the post she made on International Women’s Day, and added, according to Elle, that she was also not going to apologize for what she said or thought, simply because “what’s happening inside is much more important anyway.”

Daisy Ridley further demonstrated the maturity of someone much older than she by adding that she did not want the person who posted the initial meme to come under fire. She encouraged her fans and followers to treat each other with kindness in spite of the knowledge that she had been criticized for her appearance.

“Guys it was not my intention for anyone to send messages to that poor person that posted the original picture,” she wrote. “My whole post is about being kind to each other, so please refrain!”

Since Star Wars: The Force Awakens bowed in mid-December 2015, Daisy Ridley has garnered quite a bit of attention. Whether it is because of her star-making turn as the scavenger Rey or because of her newly-discovered singing voice, it remains clear that Daisy Ridley is fast becoming a name that Hollywood is not going to forget anytime soon.

A few weeks ago, Ridley gained quite a bit of attention because she revealed that she had done a duet with recording legend Barbra Streisand. Now, Daisy Ridley is the name being touted for the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider reboot, which means the English actress could find herself following in similar footsteps as another Star Wars alumnus, Harrison Ford, who became as well known for his role as adventurer Indiana Jones in the film series of the same name as he did for his role as Han Solo in the Star Wars series.

One thing that Daisy Ridley appears to be becoming very well known for is her enthusiasm for the Star Wars series, as well as for the film world itself. Variety reported that Daisy Ridley seemed quite stunned by the turn her life has taken, according to J.J. Abrams.

“The other day we were talking, and she told me that on Saturday, she’s going to record a song with an unnamed person, but a, let’s just [say] massive superstar person… and then on Sunday, she’s presenting an Oscar at the Academy Awards,” Abrams said of Daisy Ridley at the recent Oscar Wilde Awards. “And then on Monday, she’s flying back to the U.K. to star in ‘Episode VIII.’ And she looked at me and she said, in the sweetest, Daisy-est way, ‘What is my life?’ And as her agent, CAA’s excellently Irish Hylda Queally knows well, Daisy’s life is a bit like Rey’s: She’s on a crazy adventure, and it’s just beginning.”

[Photo by Hu Chengwei/Getty Images]

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