Everything we know about Daisy Ridley, our ‘Star Wars’ obsession
Between the lightsabers and stormtroopers, you might not realize that Star Wars actually has a nice hefty dose of Girl Power. One of the first things Princess Leia does in Episode IV is save Luke, Han, and Chewie (and even comments, “Well somebody has to save our skins,” before blasting a hole open in the wall). Amazingly, that kickass spirit lives on with brand new Force Awakens character Rey, played by Daisy Ridley. She fights, she punches, she shoots a blaster, and then she drives the Millennium Falcon, no big.
Virtually unknown before word of her casting got out, Ridley jumped from zero to lightspeed practically over night. And even though we haven’t seen SEEN Force Awakens yet, let’s just say we’re a little bit obsessed to Ridley. More like, a lot obsessed, because she has once again has brought some fierce girl power to the galaxy far, far away. But who is the girl behind all of this? Here’s all the awesome stuff you need to know about Ridley.
This is her first feature film
For real. Ridley hasn’t been in any other films before. She’s appeared in a few TV shows and a music video, but never a movie. Go big or go home, right?
She has stage fright!
According to Ridley, in a New York Times interview, “I get really bad stage fright. I remember the first time I went in for fittings, [Director] J. J. [Abrams] was like, ‘Are you always this quiet? And I was like, [in a] mousy voice, ‘No.’”
It took five times for her to land the part of Rey
Ridley was picked out of a world-wide open casting process, and it was lucky audition #5 that got her the lead role. She also “wasn’t an überfan like many people are” before being cast.
Star Wars makes her emotional, too
Don’t try and deny the fact that you cried watching Ridley cry watching the full-length Force Awakens trailer.
For Rey, she trailed for HOURS every day
Specifically, five hours a day five days out of the week. If you can remember all the way back to this summer’s Comic-Con, she insisted on wearing a sleeveless dress so everyone could see her “guns,” nothing that she “worked hard for them.”
Ridley’s ready to be a role model
Explaining in an interview with Elle, “[Rey is] so strong. She’s cool and smart and she can look after herself. Young girls can look at her and know that they can wear trousers if they want to… they don’t have to show off their bodies.”
In an interview with International Business Times, she elaborated further:
She’s good friends with Gary Fisher
The dog. The dog is Gary Fisher, Carrie Fisher’s dog. You can read all about it on Daisy’s blog.
Ridley has her own dog, too
Her dog, Muffin, is both blind and deaf, but nevertheless, absolutely adorable.
And she’s obsessed with Game of Thrones, just like us
Thanks to the Star Wars costume and prop department, she went as the Three-Eyed Raven.
[Images via Shutterstock, Instagram]
