Star Wars sequel star Daisy Ridley has said her next film in the galaxy far, far away isn't what she expected.
Speaking to Collider, Ridley said her role reprisal came as a surprise but she's "very excited" to return as Rey, and thinks the new story is "really cool". The untitled film, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, was announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023 as a sequel to the Sequel Trilogy taking place 15 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode 9 - The Rise of Skywalker as Rey looks to rebuild the Jedi Order.
"I'm very excited. The story is really cool," Ridley said of the new film. "I'm waiting to read a script because, obviously, I don't have any other updates. It's not what I expected, but I'm very excited." She expanded upon this to The Hollywood Reporter, saying: "I haven’t read anything, but I know the story. It’s really worth telling, worth exploring, and I think people will be excited."
Though the film was announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023 on April 7, Ridley said she hadn't even been approached about the role as of February 2023. The rapid turnaround between the initial conversation with Lucasfilm and her appearance at the event had her feeling very nervous, Ridley said.
"I was s***ting myself before I went on stage, because no one knew I was going to that," she said. "No one knew I was going to Celebration, bar like [Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy] and there were a couple of people. I was so nervous. Oh my god."
This comes despite Kennedy claiming at the time that Obaid-Chinoy's film, plus the movies from Dave Filoni and James Mangold, were "pretty far along in development".
Overnight, it emerged Filoni had been promoted to chief creative officer at Lucasfilm. The news was announced in a Vanity Fair article that confirmed the Ahsoka creator will now be more involved in early development. He'll work alongside Kennedy and head of development Carrie Beck.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
