J.J. Abrams Gave Daisy Ridley One Warning When She Joined Star Wars

Back in 2015, British actor Daisy Ridley was plucked from obscurity and turned into an international superstar thanks to J. J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Prior to the lead role in the long-awaited seventh "Star Wars" film, Ridley boasted a handful of small appearances in short films and television shows. But once she stepped into the shoes of the force-sensitive Jedi, Ridley's career drastically blew up, landing her major roles in productions like "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Chaos Walking." 

Prior to taking on "Star Wars," Ridley was given some sound advice from her director. While speaking with GQ in 2019, the actor opened up about the warning that Abrams gave her prior to her signing onto "Star Wars," one of the biggest multimedia franchises in the world. "Understand the scale," the billion-dollar grossing filmmaker warned. "This is not a role in a movie. This is a religion for people. It changes things on a level that is inconceivable," he added. 

Those were tall words to live up to and most "Star Wars" fans will agree that Ridley knocked it out of the park as the complicated Rey. Of course, this is "Star Wars," which is known for its widely chaotic and bitter fanbase. While Abrams' warning was harsh, it was also realistic, setting Ridley up for the overwhelming exposure that the franchise would be giving her. But now that she has completed her first act as Rey, she's looking back on her experience differently.

Being thrown into the limelight overnight and having an entire pop culture fascination rest on your shoulders is no small task. During the production of the sequel trilogy, Daisy Ridley found the experience to be quite isolating, explaining that her experience was difficult to relate to. "I was like, 'I'm good. I'm good. I'm coping fine. Everything's fine.' And I was fine, for the most part. But I think what I was really grappling with was that it was my normal, but it was not normal to other people," she explained to Inverse.

While there are no doubt perks to stardom, production on the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy wasn't a cakewalk for Ridley. In her 2019 conversation with GQ, Ridley candidly opened up about how the stress related to the franchise led to holes forming in her gut wall, further adding, "I got tests done and it turned out my body was taking in no nutrients. I was just like a little skeleton and I was just so tired. I was becoming a ghost." 

Nowadays Ridley takes things at a slower pace that leads to more diverse projects. During her "Star Wars" run, Ridley's CV was mostly populated by blockbuster after blockbuster, but her career is taking on a radically different direction now with indie darlings like "Sometimes I Think About Dying" and arthouse horror such as "We Bury the Dead." "I still feel like I'm at the beginning of my career," Ridley told Inverse. "I'm really looking forward to what else might come up. I do feel like I'm open to many different things." While a huge part of Ridley's post-"Star Wars" filmography leans away from genre fare, Ridley isn't done with Rey just yet. 

In 2023, Lucasfilm confirmed that Daisy Ridley would be returning to the "Star Wars" franchise for a Rey-centric film, which would focus on her character rebuilding the Jedi order. Set after the events of "The Rise of Skywalker," the film was initially slated to be directed by Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. While speaking with Variety about the project, Ridley expressed her excitement to return to the series, especially because of how enthusiastic she was about Obaid-Chinoy's vision. 

But what she said was equally exciting for her was that she was returning to the series a little bit older and wiser. "When I first started, I was, like, 20," she explained, adding that she was the youngest person on the set of "The Force Awakens." "It took me the first two 'Star Wars' films to feel worthy of being there. Now I'm in my 30s. The whole thing feels quite different. I've been able to work with other filmmakers, and hopefully, I've got better as a performer," she said. 

Although the project is officially still in development, with Lucasfilm hiring a new writer and ordering a fresh draft of the screenplay, the film seems to have taken a back seat to confirmed releases like "The Mandalorian and Grogu" and "Star Wars: Starfighter." For now, however, Rey is still part of Daisy Ridley's life — and will probably always be.