Daisy Ridley has been doing the press rounds recently promoting her latest film, Cleaner, but to no one’s surprise she’s been asked quite a bit about Star Wars too.
She will be returning to the galaxy far, far away to reprise the role of Rey Skywalker in a still untitled film, set after the events of the sequel trilogy. The movie is set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, but it has gone through several writing changes, with the most recent being George Nolfi brought in to develop a script. Ridley took the chance in some interviews to talk about her involvement in the film at this point in the process.
“I have not read the latest script, but I know what’s happening, and I know the story, and I think what feels really good is that George is a phenomenal writer,” Ridley told ComicBook. “I think we’re making sure that this story is the best way, this script is the best way to tell the story, and I think it will be worthwhile. for everyone watching it, and I am very excited, yeah.”
With this being her fourth movie as Rey, it’s obvious that she is not only excited, but far more comfortable in the role and with the filmmaking process. Furthermore, since her last appearance in Star Wars, Ridley has gotten involved in filmmaking, serving as a producer on Sometimes I Think About Dying and Magpie, an executive producer on Young Woman and the Sea, and a story writer on Magpie. So it’s fair to expect her role in the development of this Star Wars movie to be more involved than in the past, and that’s something she confirmed in another interview.
“I don’t know that I’d be a producer on it, but I certainly have been very involved,” she told Collider. “I’m involved in, well, not very involved, but I’m involved in as much as I know what’s going on, I know the story, I know what’s going on with the script, so I’m aware of all that. And I think what’s been really wonderful over the last few years is being more involved from the start to finish, really coming to set knowing this is the absolute best way we can tell this story. These are the best actors for the job. This is the best crew for the job. Having that confidence is so lovely. And it’s not that I didn’t have that before, but I’m much more cognizant of it now. So in that way, I’m looking forward to turning up, really knowing the ins and outs of what the journey has been, and we’re arriving at the absolute best place to tell this particular story.”
Ridley added in an interview with ScreenRant that she has another project next month, so her return as Rey won’t be the next thing she turns her attention to – but she said, once more, that she’s excited about it. At this point it’s unclear when the movie will move into production, and when it will release, but it’s moving along and the main thing right now is getting a script finalized that everyone is happy with. While they work on that, it’s encouraging to hear Ridley’s excitement about returning to the role and her insight into how her involvement has changed as she’s gotten more comfortable with it.
This movie is expected to tell of Rey training a new generation of Jedi years after the end of the sequel trilogy, but beyond that we don’t know anything about it – probably in part because they’re still working on the script. But the biggest draw of the movie is Ridley’s return to the role after starring in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker. It sounds like Lucasfilm knows she’s a major character in their future plans, so much so that they’re considering her for multiple projects at the moment, which is pretty exciting.
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