Daisy Ridley

Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley (born 10 April 1992) is an English actress who rose to international prominence through playing the role of Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy: The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

She has also featured as the title character of the romantic drama Ophelia (2018), appeared in the mystery film Murder on the Orient Express (2017), and lent her voice to the animated Peter Rabbit (2018).

Early life

Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley was born on 10 April 1992 in the London borough of Westminster, and grew up in Maida Vale. She is the youngest of three daughters born to Louise Fawkner-Corbett, a banker, and Christopher Ridley, a photographer. She has two older sisters, Kika Rose and Poppy Sophia, as well as two older half-sisters. Her mother’s family, the Fawkner-Corbetts, were landed gentry with a military and medical background. Her paternal great-uncle, Arnold Ridley, also served in the military, and separately forged a career as a playwright and actor (notably playing Private Godfrey in the sitcom Dad’s Army); his brother, Daisy’s grandfather, John Harry Dunn Ridley, OBE, was head of the Engineering Secretariat at the BBC from 1950 to 1965.

Ridley has stated that while growing up, her favourite film was Matilda (1996), an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s story, naming the title character (played by Mara Wilson in the film) as a role model. While not a particularly strong Star Wars fan as a youth, she dedicatedly followed the Harry Potter series.

Ridley won a scholarship to Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, which she attended from ages nine to 18. She then began reading classical civilisation at Birkbeck, University of London, before dropping out to focus on her acting career. Prior to being cast in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ridley worked as a barmaid in two different pubs in London for nearly two years. In 2016, she began studying for a Bachelor of Arts in social science through online courses with the Open University.

Career

2013–2015: Early roles and Star Wars breakthrough

Ridley began her career with minor roles in the television programmes Youngers, Toast of London, Silent Witness, Mr Selfridge, and Casualty. She appeared in the short film Blue Season, which was entered into the Sci-Fi-London 48-Hour Film Challenge. Ridley played the lead in film three of Lifesaver, an interactive film which was nominated for a BAFTA Award. She also appeared in the music video for Wiley’s song “Lights On”, playing the character of Kim. Ridley made her film debut in the 2015 British independent horror film Scrawl, after her scenes from the British comedy film The Inbetweeners 2 were removed in the final cut.

In April 2014, the casting of Ridley as Rey, one of the lead characters in The Force Awakens, was announced. She was cast for the film in February 2014. At the time of her casting she was, according to Rolling Stone, a “total unknown.” Her choice by director J. J. Abrams was seen as a repeat of George Lucas’ move of casting relatively unknown actors for the lead roles in the first Star Wars film in 1977.

Ridley began filming her scenes in May 2014 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, and prior to the film’s release in December 2015, she appeared at the launch of a set of Star Wars postage stamps issued by the UK postal service Royal Mail, with her character Rey featuring on a stamp along with the droid BB-8. With international revenues of over $2 billion, The Force Awakens was a major box-office hit and the highest-grossing film of 2015. Her performance received critical acclaim, with Richard Roeper describing her portrayal as “a breakout performance” and adding “Ford has a terrific father figure chemistry with Ridley and  Boyega”.

2016–present: Star Wars sequel trilogy and other projects

Ridley became executive producer of the documentary The Eagle Huntress in January 2016, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 24 January 2016; she also recorded narration for the film’s wide release. Ridley was one of several actors featured on Barbra Streisand’s 2016 album Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway. Along with Anne Hathaway, Ridley and Streisand perform the song “At the Ballet” from A Chorus Line, with Ridley performing the role of Bebe, one of a trio of dancers hoping to be cast in a forthcoming show.

In 2017, Ridley portrayed Mary Debenham in Murder on the Orient Express, an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s detective novel of the same name. Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, production began in London in November 2016. She also reprised her role as Rey, opposite Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which was released in December 2017.

In January 2018, Ridley starred in the titular role in Ophelia, a reimagining of the Hamlet tale, alongside Naomi Watts and Clive Owen. The project was filmed from April to July 2017 and debuted at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In February 2018, Ridley voiced the role of Cottontail in Peter Rabbit, an adaptation of the children’s stories of the same name by Beatrix Potter.

In December 2019, Ridley appeared as Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the last film in the sequel trilogy. She is not expected to reprise her role again after this film, and is quoted as saying, “I don’t think anything could top for this character.” However, she does show interest in returning as the character if needed, saying ” never say never. I’m always open to a revisit. But also the beautiful thing is it’s this wonderful, huge universe with all of these stories that have yet to be told. I think there’s a lot of cool things to be made before any potential revisit.” She also reflected on her co-star Boyega’s opinion that if more films were made without her involvement, she would feel left out.

In 2021, Ridley co-starred in the film Chaos Walking, an adaption of the young-adult novel by Patrick Ness. She played Viola Eade, opposite Tom Holland who played Todd Hewitt. The film was released on March 5, 2021. The film had been delayed occasionally due to poor test screenings that followed the film’s reshoots, and later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Upcoming projects

Ridley’s upcoming films in pre-production are The Marsh King’s Daughter, Women In The Castle, Young Woman and the Sea, and The Inventor.

In addition to acting, she will lend her voice for the upcoming indie game 12 Minutes, alongside James McAvoy and Willem Dafoe for Annapurna Interactive.

Her additional films in development include Daddio, Kolma, A Woman of No Importance, Piece of Mind, Super-Normal, The Lost Wife, and The Ice Beneath Her.

Personal life

Ridley resides in Primrose Hill, London. Since 2017, she has been in a relationship with actor Tom Bateman, whom she met on the set of Murder on the Orient Express.

In 2016, Ridley revealed she had been diagnosed with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome at age 15, requiring her to undergo multiple laparoscopic surgery procedures. She states that her endometriosis left her feeling low in self-confidence due to acne that followed.

Following the 2016 Teen Choice Awards, which paid tribute to victims of gun violence, Ridley posted on both Instagram and Facebook an anti-gun violence message. Her post prompted backlash from the public, with critics accusing the actress of hypocrisy in reference to the violence depicted in Star Wars. Ridley has since quit social media in response to the harassment, though she briefly returned to Instagram, claiming the reason behind the deletion was because she had “a busy few months ahead so wanted less distractions”. She reiterated this statement in 2017, saying that social media is “highly unhealthy for people’s mental health,” including hers. Ridley further commented on the topic in a 2019 interview, vowing never to return to social media. She stated:

“I honestly think now with social media and stuff…it’s great to have freedom of expression, but I do feel like people think opinions have so much weight… I don’t really think bad vibes should have the sun shone on them. It’s dangerous. It’s great in that respect for people who are in serious and dire situations to be able to be communicating, but for the most part I think — no, no, no.”

Ridley is a vegan.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Lifesaver	Jo	Short film
2013	Blue Season	Sarah	Short film
2013	100% BEEF	Girl	Short film
2013	Crossed Wires	Her	Short film
2014	Under	Waitress	Short film
2015	Scrawl	Hannah
2015	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	Rey
2016	Only Yesterday	Taeko Okajima	Voice English dub
2016	The Eagle Huntress	Narrator	Documentary Narrator; also executive producer
2017	Murder on the Orient Express	Mary Debenham
2017	Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Rey
2018	Ophelia	Ophelia
2018	Peter Rabbit	Cottontail Rabbit	Voice
2019	Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker	Rey
2020	Asteroid Hunters	Narrator	Documentary Narrator
2021	Chaos Walking	Viola Eade

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Casualty	Fran Bedingfield	Episode: “And the Walls Come Tumbling Down”
	Youngers	Jessie	Episode: “A to B and the Apology”
	Toast of London	Charlotte	Episode: “Vanity Project”
2014	Silent Witness	Hannah Kennedy	Episode: “Fraternity” (2 parts)
	Mr Selfridge	Roxy Starlet	Episode 2.8
2017–2018	Star Wars Forces of Destiny	Rey	Voice 7 episodes
2021	The Great Celebrity Bake off For Stand Up to Cancer	Herself as contestant	Series 4; Episode 1
	27th Screen Actors Guild Awards	Herself	Presenter for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	The Boy Friend	Nancy	Musical
2012	Dominoes	Daisy

Music videos

Year	Artist(s)	Title
2013	Wiley	“Lights On”

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0	Rey	Star Wars: The Force Awakens playset
2016	Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2017	Star Wars Battlefront II
2020	The Dawn of Art	Guide
2021	12 Minutes
2021	Baba Yaga	Magda

Theme park attractions

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2019	Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance	Rey	Disney’s Hollywood Studios
2020			Disneyland

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2015	Zed Fest Film Festival	Outstanding Acting Performance	Scrawl	Won
	Florida Film Critics Circle	FCC Breakout Award	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	Won
2016	Central Ohio Film Critics Association	Breakthrough Film Artist		Nominated
	Georgia Film Critics Association	Breakthrough Award		Nominated
	EDA Awards	Best Female Action Star		Nominated
		Best Breakthrough Performance		Nominated
	Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actress		Nominated
	Empire Awards	Best Female Newcomer		Won
	MTV Movie Awards	Best Female Performance		Nominated
		Best Hero		Nominated
		Best Breakthrough Performance		Won
		Best Fight (with Adam Driver)		Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress – Sci-Fi/Fantasy		Nominated
		Choice Movie: Chemistry (with John Boyega)		Nominated
		Choice Movie: Breakout Star		Won
2018	Empire Awards	Best Actress	Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Won
	Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actress		Nominated
	MTV Movie Awards	Best Performance in a Movie		Nominated
		Best Hero		Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Fantasy Movie Actress		Nominated
		Choice Drama Movie Actress	Murder on the Orient Express	Nominated