Daisy Ridley still finds fan reaction to ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ upsetting
Daisy Ridley, who took on the role of Rey in the 2010s Star Wars sequel trilogy, has revealed that she still gets upset by the fan reaction to the second and final instalments, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
Since completing the trilogy, Ridley has starred in the dystopian book adaption Chaos Walking opposite Tom Holland and in Sometimes I Think About Dying, which she also produced. She is set to reprise her role as Rey in a new Star Wars film directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
Looking back on the divided reactions to The Rise of Skywalker in a conversation for the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ridley shared her disappointment. “It’s still upsetting,” she began, “You don’t want people to feel like you’ve not served the thing they’re a fan of.”
Ridley noted that the response to the first film, J. J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens, was widely positive, but that the follow-up movies divided viewers. “The second, super divisive. The last one, super divisive,” she commented, “It didn’t change how I felt about it.”
The actor addressed two plot points that were particularly divisive to fans: the kiss between her character and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren and the reveal of Rey to be Palpatine’s granddaughter rather than the child of “no-one,” as the earlier films affirmed.
Ridley felt the kiss was well-earned. “What was interesting again is intentionality,” she commented, “My feeling in that moment was that it was a goodbye, and that felt earned. You can call a kiss a thousand things, but I felt it was a goodbye. That whole scene felt emotional and I felt I was saying goodbye to the job, too.”
On the Palpatine reveal Ridley thought it was interesting that Rey could be depicted as a hero with no home or as a hero descended from the “worst person in the universe.”
“But it’s beyond my pay grade,” she concluded, “I say the words, do the thing.”
Rey’s return in Obaid-Chinoy’s entry into the franchise will follow the disorderly post-war Jedi Order, set over a decade after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. A timeline for the film is yet to be revealed.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.