Daisy Ridley became a breakout star when she first appeared in 2015’s blockbuster hit, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as Rey. The face of the franchise, she became, right up until last year’s trilogy-capper, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. However, the initial praise for her Jakku scavenger was severely depleted by The Last Jedi, as certain outrage burst at the seams for some creative decisions that were taken on the characters. By the time the saga was completed, the fandom was left divided, the Force weak and shattered.
Ridley recently spoke out on the aftermath of the Disney trilogy during a DragCast podcast (via IndieWire) during which she noted the diminishing aura of positivity with each instalment. Here’s what she said:
“It’s changed film by film honestly, like 98% it’s so amazing, this last film it was really tricky. January was not that nice. It was weird, I felt like all of this love that we’d sort of been shown the first time around, I was like, ‘Where’s the love gone?’ I watched the documentary, the making-of [The Skywalker Legacy], this week, and it’s so filled with love, and I think it’s that tricky thing of when you’re part of something that is so filled with love and then people [don’t like it].”
The actress then gave her opinion on the current landscape of the franchise’s criticism, stating that several reactions and reports that came out since The Rise of Skywalker have not been kind, but still relished her contribution to the franchise.
“You know, everyone’s entitled to not like something, but it feels like it’s changed slightly. But I think in general that’s because social media and what have you…I guess now conversations are just more public, so there’s stuff I wouldn’t have seen, but honestly trying to scroll through my newsfeed in January and trying to not see ‘Star Wars’ stuff, I’d see headlines and be like ‘Oh my God this is so upsetting. So, it’s been tricky, but then it’s having that thing of ‘I feel really proud of it,’ and ‘I’m so thrilled to be part of it.’ Yeah, but it’s a funny thing.”
Indeed, it is great that Daisy Ridley was honest about her experience with the galaxy far far away. As it did, in fact, define her career for the past few years, naturally she would want to defend certain elements of it. However, with the saga complete and the unlikelihood of the sequel trilogy being revisited, Ridley will be looking beyond the stars for her next project. She will next be featured in Doug Liman’s sci-fi film, Sky Chaos Walking, alongside Tom Holland in 2021.
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