Give Daisy Ridley a break: In her position, I’d be done with Star Wars, too, because of the Internet
By Buckie Wells
Daisy Ridley apparently clarified a statement that she shouldn’t have needed to clarify. Because if she doesn’t want to do Star Wars, she doesn’t have to.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi comes out this month, which means we get a lot of new interviews and magazine spreads. Them’s the rules. A lot of the interviews are meant to hype you up without giving anything away, but occasionally, you get something that just sets the internet on fire.
Just last week, Rolling Stone published a spread that included Daisy Ridley’s comments that she was done with Rey after 2019’s Episode IX. The Internet responded with a mixture of sadness, shock and some rightful disbelief. However, the second I saw this take off, I tried not to pay it any mind because I knew things would be twisted.
And as a result, it appears that Ridley needed to clarify that she wasn’t “done” with Star Wars beyond anything what her contract says she was done with. As SWNN puts it, she “backpedaled” with the Press Association:
"When I did sign up I did sign up for three films… and that’s where I sort of saw the story ending, JJ (Abrams, The Force Awakens director) said the same thing. I think everyone has perhaps taken that as me going, ‘I don’t want anything to do with it’ which is vastly untrue because this is awesome."
Basically, Rey’s story will wrap by Episode IX. That’s the end, hence the “done.” This makes perfect sense, considering Rian Johnson’s got a completely separate trilogy waiting in his back pocket.
She clarified even further to Entertainment Tonight. (Damage control, much?) Check it out below.
Alright, she was tired, it was raining, and her quote was taken out of context. What a surprise.
With the advent of the Internet, one of the occupational hazards of being in something as big as Star Wars is watching things be blown out of proportion. It’s unfortunate but true. And I get really sensitive about Daisy Ridley stuff, in particular, because she’s a gem, the world can be cruel, and I’ve found that her and I have a lot in common.
Allow me to explain.
First of all, she made other really important comments in the same exact Rolling Stone article that no one paid any attention to:
"“I have no control in my life at all. So there is a lot going on, and I have never had to deal with that before. I don’t think my brain can really keep up with what is going on.”She has full-blown night terrors: “I wake up and scream.”"
Hmm. Shouldn’t we be talking more about how the pressure gets to her? Or about how honest she’s always been about her struggles with anxiety? Star Wars is a big franchise and operates under a microscope. Yet, I don’t see anyone talking about what a champion she is for candidly speaking about going to therapy, being a big crier, or the fact that she was bullied on Instagram and had the wherewithal to just leave social media instead of subjecting herself to criticism.
In the upcoming January issue of Glamour, she elaborated on her Instagram departure:
"Everyone said, “It’s because she talked about gun safety,” but it wasn’t. If I want to talk about gun safety, I will talk about gun safety. And I didn’t sign up for people to go, “You’re amazing!” But I didn’t sign up for them to say things like “Your skin is [expletive],” either…so I took down the post, and then I deleted my account."
Isn’t that nice? (*sarcasm*) Here’s your much needed reminder that she’s 25 and the face of the world’s most popular brand. Moreover, she’s constantly regarded as an icon that helped change the game for women in cinema. And she doesn’t even understand why because, “Of course a female character should be doing whatever she wants.”
I mean, the entire Glamour article is so honest and compelling, but it just shows how hard it is to be at the center of this. And so when she says one little thing about being done with Star Wars after Episode IX, part of me is like, “Oh, good.”
In addition to being “super sensitive but not too sensitive,” let’s also acknowledge that she did press for Murder on the Orient Express (which came out on Nov. 10) and Star Wars: The Last Jedi back to back. And that she’s also shooting other films. I can’t even cook and watch Netflix at the same time without something going wrong.
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Now, if I still haven’t convinced you to beg off and let her be, at the very least, consider what she said to MTV’s Josh Horowitz at the 2016 Oscars: “I’m pretty sure I’ve said the wrong thing countless times because I’m honest.” So when she says one measly thing about Star Wars, you really don’t have to pick it apart.
Maybe instead of asking who Rey’s parents are repeatedly, I bet she’d feel a lot better if someone would just slow down and ask her how she’s doing or if she wants a break.