Daisy Ridley Says Upcoming Rey-Centric ‘Star Wars’ Film Has A Story That’s “Really Worth Telling, Worth Exploring”

Rey (Daisy Ridley) defies the legacy of Sheev Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Disney
Rey (Daisy Ridley) defies the legacy of Sheev Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Disney

In perhaps the most hard-to-believe assertions ever uttered in the Disney Star Wars era, actress Daisy Ridley has claimed that the franchise’s upcoming Rey film will feature a story “really worth telling”.

Rey (Daisy Ridley) takes up the Skywalker name in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Disney
Rey (Daisy Ridley) takes up the Skywalker name in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Disney

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Ridley, whose most notable credits to this day remain her three appearances throughout the Sequel Trilogy, offered her take on the quality of her character’s upcoming solo outing during a recent interview given to The Hollywood Reporter‘s Brian Davids.

Following a lengthy discussion of Ridley’s new film The Marsh King’s Daughter, Davids closed out his time with the actress by asking if she could provide any insight into “the basic course of events” that preceded the Rey film’s surprise announcement at April’s 2023 Star Wars Celebration event.

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)
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)

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In turn, Ridley recalled, “The basic course is when I was at Sundance, I did not know. I shot my movie [Magpie] when I got back, and I had a breakfast with Kathy [Kennedy] that I thought was just breakfast. And then it was mentioned, so I thought about it. I loved the story, and I was like, ‘Okay.'”

“Things then happened quite quickly, and it felt like I was instantaneously on a stage being introduced by [director] Sharmeen [Obaid-Chinoy],” the actress continued. “It honestly took me back to being 20 or 21, however old I was, when [Star Wars: The Force Awakens] was announced. I was petrified, I was overwhelmed, I was really nervous but the response was really wonderful. And I’m genuinely really excited about the next one.”

To this end, Ridley concluded her time with Davids by turning to the film’s plot itself, ultimately teasing, “I haven’t read anything, but I know the story. It’s really worth telling, worth exploring, and I think people will be excited.”

Rey (Daisy Ridley) confronts Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Lucasfilm

Interestingly, Ridley’s word choice seems to suggest that the actress may not be privy to that many more details regarding Rey’s next outing than have already been publicly detailed by the aforementioned Kennedy.

Giving her first tease to the film’s plot in a post-Star Wars Celebration interview given to IGN, the Lucasfilm President detailed of its premise, “Well, we’re 15 years out from Rise of Skywalker so we’re kind of post-war, post-First Order, and the Jedi are in disarray. And there’s a lot of discussion around who are the Jedi, what are they doing, what’s the state of the galaxy? And she’s attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order based on the books, based on what she promised Luke. So that’s where we’re going.”

Asked in follow-up whether Luke’s failed attempt to rebuild the Order would play any part in the story, Kennedy asserted, “I don’t know as we’ll spend a lot of time in flashbacks, or Force ghosts, or things like that, but certainly the spirit of what he represents to her is going to be significant.”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qz6s7kvuwMc%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den-US%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

Elaborating on the film’s plot in a later interview with Empire, Kennedy added that it would see “The First Order has fallen, the Jedi are in chaos – there’s even a question of how many exist anymore – and Rey’s building the New Jedi Order, based on the text that she was given and that Luke imparted on her.”

Luckily for Ridley, it seems she’ll have ample time to get acquainted with the film’s story, as of writing the film has yet to receive an official release date.

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