The Rise of Daisy Ridley
The Star Wars Starlet is a star to watch
Star Wars is the biggest entertainment property in the world. The original trilogy was led by the charismatic trio of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford, while the oft-derided prequel trilogy showed off the acting talents of Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Hayden Christensen.
For the new, sequel trilogy, Disney and Lucasfilm have done a magnificent job of bringing in a new cast of characters to interact with the aged cast of the original movies. If there’s a singular lead in The Force Awakens (and the upcoming The Last Jedi), it’s Daisy Ridley as the mysterious Rey.
Rey is a charismatic young leading lady, with a striking combination of innocent beauty, rugged charm, and relatable intimacy. Like Luke Skywalker, she is a poor orphan girl who gets sucked into a galaxy-wide conflict. Like Han Solo, she’s a crack pilot in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, the fastest hunk-of-junk in the galaxy. Finally, like Princess Leia, she’s unafraid to stand up to the dark lords of the Sith — and she’s a crack shot with a blaster pistol. Rey‘s quest to become a Jedi and discovering the mysteries of her origins will continue in Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, but fans of Ridley don’t have to wait that long to see her in action. Daisy Ridley is on a mission to prove that she’s Hollywood’s latest and greatest A-lister, and she’s picking projects that will boost her star power and showcase her acting talents.
Aside from Star Wars, due out December 15, Ridley has several other high-profile projects coming up. On November 10, she will co-star in Kenneth Brannagh‘s Agatha Christie adaptation, Murder on the Orient Express. The highly-anticipated mystery also stars Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Josh Gad, Penelope Cruz, and Judi Dench. In 2018, Ridley will play the title character in Ophelia, a retelling of the classic Shakespeare play, Hamlet, from the perspective of the female lead. She is also attached to the WWII spy drama, A Woman of No Importance, based on the true story of American spy Virginia Hall.
Of course, even in the incredibly unlikely event that all of these non-Star Wars flicks bomb hard at the box office, she still has Episode IX to look forward to. The film is currently untitled, but is slated for release in May 2019.