‘It’s a Different Thing This Time’

A year ago, it was announced that Daisy Ridley would be returning to the Star Wars franchise to reprise her role of Rey in a new film set 15 years after the events in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Since then, Ridley has appeared in a couple of smaller films, such as Sometimes I Think About Dying, and The Marsh King’s Daughter, that weren’t necessarily hits at the box office, but won over the hearts of critics. While she might have been a wide-eyed and bushy-tailed young actress when she first picked up a lightsaber in 2015, the 31-year-old Ridley is returning to the Star Wars franchise with a much different perspective on not only the galaxy far, far away, but life in general.

Speaking with Empire, Ridley, who will appear next in the upcoming action film, Cleaner, says this time she’s “coming in a bit more eyes wide open” in regard to her return as Rey. While news of her reprisal was met with mixed reactions from Star Wars fans, Ridley says a lot has changed since Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. She says this time around, she’s an “adult.”

“I suppose I feel more like I’m owning it. I suppose I owned it the first time. Basically, I’m an adult now. I certainly did not feel like an adult at the time. Obviously, personally, things have changed, and professionally, I’ve had lots of other experiences, and so I definitely feel like it’s a different thing this time.”

Ridley would go on to say that despite the online discourse among Star Wars fans regarding the latest trilogy of films, and her acting chops, there’s still joy in her heart for the universe George Lucas created. She says if there wasn’t, she wouldn’t be returning to the franchise.

“There’s just a lot of joy with me and these films. Honestly, if I wasn’t excited, I wouldn’t have done it. It feels like a great thing to be a part of.”

Daisy Ridley Says Returning to Star Wars ‘Wasn’t a Difficult Decision’

As of right now, Daisy Ridley has yet to read a script for the new Star Wars film, but she does know the story beats for Rey’s next journey, which will see the character look to rebuild the Jedi Order and fulfill the promise she made to Luke Sywalker. While she’s “curious about it all,” returning as Rey wasn’t something she immediately said yes to. Still, she says the decision wasn’t that difficult in the end, thanks to the joy the Star Wars films bring to a lot of people.

“It wasn’t a difficult decision. I didn’t say yes right away, Kathy [Kennedy] was like, ‘Take as long as you need.’ Not that it took that long to say yes. Why wouldn’t I [do it]? Yes, they have been divisive, but also they bring a lot of love and joy to a lot of people.”

For Ridley, she looks at reprising a role she hasn’t played in over five years as something of a challenge. She’s looking forward to not only finding out what has changed with the character, but what’s changed with Ridley herself as an actor.

“It feels pretty amazing to be able to continue a character – like, can I even remember how to play her? It’s an interesting challenge as an actor to come back to something and try to figure out what’s changed for me and what’s changed for her.”

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