Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in Disney’s Star Wars trilogy, recently shared details about the upcoming Rey film being directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: Dave Filoni, Daisy Ridley and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy onstage during the studio panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for Disney)
Speaking with AlloCiné, Ridley reacted to a photograph of her on the stage at Star Wars Celebration in April 2023.
She said, “Yes, that was actually quite last minute. I was actually making my own film last year and [Lucasfilm President] Kathy Kennedy said she wanted to have breakfast and I thought we were just having breakfast and so I was literally eating my breakfast and she said, ‘Oh, we might do another one.’ I was like, ‘Okay.'”
Ridley continued, “So I thought about it for a little bit. Once I knew what the story was and everything, I knew that it was something I really wanted to do. I think it’s a really fantastic exploration of the Star Wars world.
“It’s a really cool way of taking the story on in a bit of a different direction,” she added.
Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Lucasfilm
Ridley then shared, “It was really strange. It took me back to being 20 because, again, I couldn’t tell anyone. So I went to my mom’s house and she was like, ‘How are we doing this again?’ And then my husband was filming in LA, so he wasn’t awake. I was like, ‘Would you wake up so I can tell you.'” And then it was all strange ’cause it was all sort of secretive again.”
“And then I came out on stage and it was very much not secretive anymore,” she asserted. “But it was wonderful. And the thing about those conventions are everyone is really lovely and everyone’s really lovely to each other. And I think a lot of time, people online sort of make out there is discourse or whatever it is that actually isn’t shared by a lot of people. And my experience has always been very welcomed. People have been very kind even if they wanted the story to go here or there or everywhere. It’s always a conversation that is respectful.”
She concluded, “So it was quite lovely to come out and give people a nice surprise.”
Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Lucasfilm
Ridley’s comments appear to echo those of Kennedy. She told Games Radar, “I think what’s always great about Star Wars is it’s a big galaxy, and we’re coming off what was a major war with the First Order. And now, Rey has made a promise to Luke and that’s really the core of where we’re going and what this story will be.”
“And I think it offers just tremendous opportunity to introduce new characters and start with something fresh, because we culminated with what George [Lucas] was creating, and now we take all of that and move it to the next chapter,” she added.
Kennedy went on to reveal how the Rey film is also connected to James Mangold’s origin of the Force film, “It was something that Jim [Mangold] immediately sparked to, and I think it’s a really nice compliment to what we’re doing with moving into the future with Rey, and then understanding a bit more of where this all came from. Because it will be at the heart of creating the new Jedi Order, so to get a real sense of where that might have began with the dawn of the Jedi could be pretty cool.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: (L-R) Daisy Ridley, Kathleen Kennedy and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attend the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)
The film’s director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy also recently spoke about the film telling CNN, “I am very thrilled about the project because I think what we are about to create is something very special. And we are in 2024 now and I think it’s about time we had a woman come forward to shape the story in a galaxy far, far away.”
She also previously told Vice News, “My name is Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and I’m directing the next Star Wars film. I’m excited about bringing Daisy Ridley back into the Star Wars galaxy, and in telling her story, I am excited to be immersed in the Jedi Academy, and I think there is so much excitement around the new Jedi order.”
She continued, “I’ve always kicked open doors that were previously closed, and I think my feeling is that there is a critical mass of women who have begun to move forward in places that were previously closed to them.”
(L-R): Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan on the set of Marvel Studios’ MS. MARVEL, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.
Obaid-Chinoy added, “And a few years ago I began to think about what I wanted to do. Ms. Marvel was coming around and I thought about a brown, Muslim superhero and what impact she would have on the way young girls see themselves.
“And you know, my filmmaking and storytelling has always been about championing heroes, men and women, who really go through extraordinary circumstances to create a better tomorrow,” she said.
@vicenews Pakistan-born Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will be the first woman and person of colour to direct one of three new Star Wars films. She’s Muslim, brown, an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker and this is her first major Hollywood feature. #StarWars #womenoftiktok #Pakistan #southasian #director #movie #film #msmarvel #daisyridley #jedi ♬ original sound – VICE News
What do you make of what Daisy Ridley had to say about the upcoming Rey film from Lucasfilm?
