Daisy Ridley explains how anxiety around her rise to fame in Star Wars affected her health.
Being Rey Skywalker comes at a price, as the 32-year-old actress shares her big screen debut in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens wasn't as perfect as fans may think.
Ridley opens up about how she had to deal with the pressures of making her franchise debut as a Skywalker.
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It Took A "Long Time" Before Daisy Felt Confident To Be Rey Skywalker
Ridley reveals that her anxiety led to stomach ulcers. "Essentially, it was a leaky gut," Ridley explains, adding that she was "just knackered" while they were promoting the film.
The Rey Skywalker star explains that she had "never traveled that much, done press junkets" that led to her gut "manifesting an emotional reaction" through traveling around the world.
Initially, Ridley worried that she may not have been the right pick for Rey, considering she didn't feel confident enough. She would often list her worries by saying, "'Oh sh*t, should it be me?' or 'Am I good enough?'"
It wasn't until the third film, Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, that she realized; "by then, I felt, 'OK, I was chosen for a reason,'" Ridley continues, "but it took a long time. It was super intense."
The only thing that somehow comforted the actress was when she focused on what she could put into the work, rather than the feedback from fans, "because whether that was positive or negative, there was a feeling of vulnerability."
Eventually, Ridley says that her family helped ease her anxiety a little, "[And] I have a wonderful family and home life so I could come home and sit with my mum and cuddle the dog."
It's a relief to see Daisy Ridley still reprising her role of Rey soon in a new Star Wars movie, set several years after The Rise of Skywalker, with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight penning the script and Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy helming the film.
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Meanwhile, Star Wars: New Jedi Order film is currently slated to hit cinemas in late 2026.
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