Daisy Ridley Excited To Work With Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Based on Her Documentaries and Her ‘Star Wars’ Pitch
With Daisy Ridley out promoting her new indie film Sometimes I Think About Dying, it was inevitable that questions about Star Wars would come up. The actress was confirmed last year to be reprising her role of Rey Skywalker in a future film from director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and writer Steven Knight, that will take place 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker in a new era dubbed the New Jedi Order.
Ridley was asked by Variety how she thinks the first female director in the franchise will leave an impact on Star Wars, to which she replied with the following statement:
“The short answer is I don’t know. I’m excited to do the job, but not because Sharmeen is a woman. Her documentaries are amazing. Her idea for the story is cool as shit. No spoilers, but she gave me a rundown of the entire story. If it weren’t amazing, I would have been like, ‘OK, call me in five years.’ But it’s worthwhile.”
It’s not the first time she’s hyped up the pitch for the film, but that’s about all we have for now. Plot details are kept tightly under wraps, which makes sense considering the script isn’t even done yet. However, so far we don’t have any news on other returning characters from the sequel trilogy (Adam Driver has pretty much said he won’t be back, though), which prompted the trade to ask if it would be weird to go back to a galaxy far, far away without her former co-stars. Said Ridley:
“No, because I don’t know what is what or who is who [in the new movie]. So much has happened for me [since the Skywalker saga]. I feel like a grown-up now. When I first started, I was, like, 20. I was the youngest on set. 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.”
Did the first sentence in that answer leave the door open for possible returns, perhaps of Oscar Isaac or John Boyega? Maybe yes, maybe not. But since the script isn’t completed yet, anything can happen at this point.
Regardless, work is progressing as expected on the film, with writer Steven Knight actively working on a new draft. Will they be able to get this thing in production before the end of the year? That certainly seems to be the plan. Lucasfilm hasn’t made any promises, though, except for the fact that The Mandalorian & Grogu will be the next movie to go in front of the cameras.
Ridley’s Sometimes I Think About Dying opens in US theaters this Friday. Stay tuned for future updates on her new Star Wars film.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
