Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Casting Director Nina Gold Talks About Discovering Daisy Ridley and John Boyega

Star Wars: The Force Awakens lead actors Daisy Ridley (Rey) and John Boyega (Finn) were both newcomers who have fast become international sensations with the seventh Star Wars film. But what is it exactly that set them apart from other talented young actors and actresses who auditioned for the role?

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, casting director Nina Gold (Game of Thrones and The Martian) is speaking up about the process of finding Boyega and Ridley and showing them to director J.J. Abrams. Below are some of the highlights in the interview.

Apparently, Gold is already familiar with John.

Gold recalled:

I had cast John before, when he was 18, in Attack the Block. Finding him then took months and months meeting teenagers, not even necessarily professional actors, but young kids who wanted to act and from all sorts of drama groups and other weird and wonderful ways of finding them. John actually had a job, a part in a play at London's Tricycle Theater, and I saw him in that and it started from there.

As for Daisy, it appears as if the 24-year-old Brit actress is simply destined for the role, with Gold describing how she had "the right feel" from the start. She said:

Daisy was working in a bar, but also acting. We did see gazillions of people for both roles. But her agent sent her in, and she was really good. She straight away struck a chord and seemed to have the right feel from the first moment, which is unusual.

Asked about the previously controversial topic of diversity in the film, specifically casting a female and a black character in the lead, Gold explained:

It's unheard of! But they had written a male and female character. Daisy's was a great female character, which was good. But I think in the casting department, and very much [director] J.J. [Abrams] and [producer] Kathy Kennedy, they were incredibly aware that they didn't want to make a film without a black character in one of the major parts — that would be a weird way to look at casting a film and a strange approach in 2014.

While it was "Let's cast the most amazing, most right person for this part," nobody was saying, "He's got to be black and she's got to be white." It was a general awareness that we didn't want to ignore the reality of the modern world — even though it's not even the modern world, it's a galaxy far, far away! But you know what I mean.

While Gold had been a big part of how and why Boyega and Ridley had been cast as the lead stars in The Force Awakens, it ultimately was a team effort and decision which landed the two actors their roles. It's cool how the franchise isn't simply providing entertainment and appreciation for the sci-fi genre, but the film is widening people's perspective on diversity and acceptance of people from different backgrounds. We have to thank the Star Wars film for that.

It's not only Abrams, Gold and Kennedy who have shown encouraging views regarding diversity and equality in the industry. Even The Force Awakens stars, such as Boyega, and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), have spoken out about and supported such causes.

You can check out Gold's full interview here.

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