Daisy Ridley

Early life

Daisy Ridley was born on 10 April 1992, in Westminster, London. She is the youngest of three daughters born to Louise Fawkner-Corbett and Chris Ridley. She has two older sisters, Kika Rose and Poppy Sophia. She also has two older half-sisters from her father's first marriage. Her mother's family, the Fawkner-Corbetts, were landed gentry with a military and medical background. Her great-uncle was Dad's Army actor and playwright Arnold Ridley. When she was growing up, her favourite film was Matilda (1996), an adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's story, with the title character (played by Mara Wilson in the film) a role model to her. Ridley won a scholarship to Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, which she attended between the ages of 9 and 18. She then began reading classical civilisation at Birkbeck, University of London, before dropping out to concentrate on her acting career.

Beginnings

Ridley began her career with minor roles in the television programmes Youngers, Toast of London, Silent Witness, Mr Selfridge, and Casualty. She also 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 has also appeared in the music video for Wiley's song "Lights On", playing the character of Kim. Her film debut is the 2015 independent horror film Scrawl, after her scenes from The Inbetweeners 2 were removed in the final cut.

Star Wars breakout role

In April 2014, Ridley's casting as Rey, one of the lead characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was announced. She was chosen 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's 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. After an early screening of the film, Brian Viner of the Daily Mail called Ridley the "real star of the show", adding that her performance as Rey should "send her career into orbit." Her performance received critical acclaim, with Richard Roeper describing her portrayal as "a breakout performance" and adding "Ford has a terrific father figure chemistry (shared) with Ridley and (John) Boyega".

Upcoming roles

Ridley will continue her role as Rey in Star Wars: The Last Jedi opposite Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, which is scheduled to be released on 15 December 2017. She will reprise the role again in Star Wars: Episode IX, which will be released on December 20, 2019.

Ridley is to star in a 2017 film adaptation of Agatha Christie's detective novel Murder on the Orient Express. Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, production began in London in November 2016. In August 2016, it was announced that she is set to star in the movie adaptation of the young adult novel series Chaos Walking, alongside with Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland. The film will start filming this August in Montreal, Canada, around 4-5 months, as confirmed by Holland in a recent interview. In 2018, Ridley will voice in a undisclosed role for the upcoming animated/live-action adaptation of Peter Rabbit, the central character from the children's stories by Beatrix Potter. Many of Ridley's projects will release in 2018 and 2019, particularly thrillers. Daisy will star and work with J.J. Abrams in Kolma, a supernatural drama; A Woman of No Importance, a biographical political-thriller film based on the book of the same name by Sonia Purnell; and The Lost Wife, a romantic war-thriller that takes place during World War II, in which Ridley will play a Polish art student who has a love affair with her best friend's older brother that is torn apart by the German invasion. In addition, in a re-imagining of Hamlet, Ridley will star in Ophelia alongside Naomi Watts & Clive Owen. She has also acquired the film and television rights to Susan Elia MacNeal's Maggie Hope novels (as confirmed by the author's Twitter account), and has started a production company.

Voice acting

Ridley voiced the lead role of Taeko in the English dub of the Japanese animated film Only Yesterday (1991), which was released on 1 January 2016 in New York City, with a wider US release through 26 February. The film allowed Ridley to work alongside another Star Wars veteran, voice actress Ashley Eckstein (who is known for voicing Ahsoka Tano, the most prominent female protagonist in Star Wars animation), in the role of Taeko's sister Yaeko. During Star Wars Celebration Orlando, it was announced that she will be voicing Rey again for Star Wars Forces of Destiny, releasing this July. It was shown that Ridley's voice will only be in 2 episodes; in Sands of Jakku and BB-8's Bandits. Sands of Jakku was released online in July 3rd on Disney's official YouTube channel, while it'll be shown on Disney Channel on July 7th.

Producing

Ridley became executive producer of the documentary The Eagle Huntress in January 2016. Director Otto Bell said of her commitment, "Like so many other theatergoers around the world, I was blown away by Daisy's recent portrayal of an empowered female protagonist. I'm thrilled she'll be bringing that same energy to supporting a real-world heroine who is also on an epic journey to win victory in a far away land." The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 24 January 2016, with Ridley narrating.

Music

Ridley is 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 an upcoming show.

Personal life

Ridley has a tattoo of three stars on her left foot that she got when she was 15, a tattoo of the alchemical symbol of air on her right hip, and a peace symbol tattoo behind her right ear. Ridley also has a dog named Muffin. Ridley has appeared in People magazine's World's Most Beautiful 2016 list. Her rise to stardom saw Ridley appear on Debrett's 2016 list of the most influential people in the UK.

Ridley suffers from endometriosis, (and also polycystic ovaries), which required her to undergo multiple laparoscopic surgeries. She revealed on Instagram that she was diagnosed with the condition at the age of 15, and admitted that the condition left her feeling low in self-confidence due to acne that followed. Ridley was praised for her message by news outlets and fans alike.

In August 2016, after receiving harsh criticism for posting an anti-gun violence message on her Instagram account, Ridley deleted her Instagram account. The actress briefly returned to Instagram and said that the reason behind the deletion was because she had "a busy few months ahead and [so] wanted less distractions." She went on to say in a later interview that she might return in 2017.