I cannot tell you how excited my daughter is about “the new girl” in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Even before she knew her name, “Rey” was already a big deal in our house. My oldest daughter always gravitates toward female characters, regardless of how big or small their role. So to see a girl as the lead in Star Wars: The Force Awakens – wow. Cast as the first female lead in a Star Wars movie, Daisy Ridley’s character isn’t just important to the story, she is living fan-girl history.
I will share more about my interview with Kathleen Kennedy, producer and president of Lucas Films, later, but her comment about Rey as a heroine and a role model for girls gives you a glimpse of how huge this role is.
They’re gonna have their own Luke Skywalker now.
And that is exactly what my daughter is expecting.
Daisy Ridley Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Here is what is great about our Daisy Ridley Star Wars interview. She is only now starting to realize just how important she is to this ginormous world that she has entered into. When we asked her about Kathleen Kennedy’s mega-huge comparison she took it in stride.
It’s weird. Because I wasn’t really thinking about myself in those terms when I was doing it, because I think that might have been slightly overwhelming. But now I can kind of see all of all of them in her. She’s a pilot, so there’s Han. And she’s a kick-ass woman, so there’s Leia. But definitely the humble beginnings and an incredible story is the same as Luke. But obviously it’s very exciting that I’m a girl and that more people hopefully will be able to relate to this story because of that.
I wasn’t a huge Star Wars fan before, so I’m hoping the fact that I’m as excited as I am, I hope that other people can feel that. And perhaps feel like this is something they can now come on board to if they haven’t already felt that.
No, I’m glad I kind of didn’t know how far it reached. Because it was really only at the convention this year that I was like, “Oh my God. There are a lot of people here, and everyone is here for the same reason.” I think that would have been quite overwhelming if I had been dealing with that while also dealing with the fact that I’m just a young girl being thrust into this thing, and I don’t quite know why I’m here. I was already dealing with that, so I’m glad that I wasn’t dealing with the rest of the stuff.
It’s nice for me that I don’t have that sense and I still enjoy it as I do, because I think not everyone is a super fan. And to be representative of those other people is great.
During the Daisy Ridley Star Wars interview we asked her what characteristics of Rey she sees in herself.
Obviously I see a lot of myself in her. But all of the qualities I think maybe I possess in small things I think Rey has in greater amounts.
So I like to think I’m kind of brave, but she’s far braver. I like to think I to do the right thing, but she far exceeds that. She’s not polished and she’s nuanced, and I think that’s why she’s so brilliant and so relatable. But she’s far more of anything I think I could ever be.
It was really weird. It was so much more than watching the trailer, but the overwhelming sense is the same. I’m still so incredibly pleased to be part of it. And I still can’t believe I’m part of it. And that this is a thing and that people are going to enjoy this that much. But I still grapple with the fact that it is happening.
Finally we asked Daisy Ridley about being a role model for girls.
The thought of girls being able to relate to a character in a film where perhaps girls can’t find in films so much of what they can physically like see themselves in. They can’t follow a story sometimes if there’s nothing that’s representing them in the film. So to be part of that is incredible.
And I’m just an actress, I’m not changing the world. But to be part of something that is perhaps groundbreaking and to be part of like a movement of women, not just in film, all over the world and all different sectors. That is an incredible thing.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens with my daughters. To learn all about Rey and how she will find her place in the Star Wars story.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Opens In Theaters December 18
Do you have your tickets yet?
Here’s the trailer that made Daisy Ridley cry the first time she saw it (as captured on her Instagram account).
- Star Wars The Force Awakens Press Conference Photos
- Harrison Ford On Returning To Star Wars 30 Years Later
