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Daisy Ridley Has Figured Out Why ‘Star Wars’ Means So Much To People

By Gregory Wakeman
Published on: 15:36 PST, May 27, 2016

Daisy Ridley might have only appeared in just one Star Wars film, but she already seems to have figured out why the space opera is so hugely popular amongst fans across the world.

Speaking to the Big Issue, Ridley explained that the antics of Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Leia Organa helps to alleviate the pain of the real tragedies that occur on a daily basis across the world.

When she was asked why viewers of the Star Wars franchise, and similar films, form such a bond with the characters and the movies, the 24-year-old stated the following.

“Maybe that’s because people are able to express themselves more easily when it’s tied to something that’s not totally real.

“When you watch something you feel removed from, it becomes that incredible thing of it feeling very close and very far away. You probably have a bigger emotional reaction than reading a newspaper and just seeing facts and figures [because] instead you see someone’s life play, their soul, and the way they react and respond to the world around them.”

Daisy Ridley continued, “People die so awfully every day that if you experienced every grief the whole world would be a dark, dark place. So many awful things happened last year, and Han Solo dying, which was one of the last moments of the year, is some weird way of experiencing that.”

“People are weighed down by awful things that are happening and what they see on the news. If everybody puts a piece of themselves into Han Solo and Han Solo dies — in the cinema, where it’s dark — you can express it and it alleviates some of the pain. His death is obviously not as important as actual lives that are lost but people probably use it as some kind of carrier for the grief.”

Daisy Ridley is clearly far from done with her work on the Star Wars franchise. She’s currently filming scenes for Star Wars: Episode VIII, the sequel to The Force Awakens, while she’ll follow this up with another performance as Rey in Star Wars: Episode IX.

For the time being though, Ridley is working tirelessly on Star Wars: Episode VIII though. Earlier this week, Star Wars VIII’s writer and director Rian Johnson confirmed that production on the film had now moved on from Ireland.

Before the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Daisy Ridley was just a jobbing actress, who had only made a handful of appearances in various television programes, short films, and the independent British horror film Scrawl.

However, Daisy Ridley managed to showcase her array of acting talents to The Force Awakens‘ J.J. Abrams soon decided that the 24-year-old was the perfect actress to bring the best out of the character of Rey.

Daisy Ridley’s performance as Rey was regarded as one of the highlights of The Force Awakens, which was met with hugely positive reviews upon its release in December. This is clearly going to just be the beginning to Ridley’s career, as she was not only heavily linked to rebooting the Tomb Raider franchise, though the role was awarded to Alicia Vikander.

But, because of her work as Rey, she’ll now forever be linked to the Star Wars franchise, which isn’t a bad epitaph to possess.

[Image via Disney]

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