News culture “It’s a religion” For this director, Star Wars is much more than a simple SF saga

Culture news “It’s a religion” For this director, Star Wars is much more than a simple SF saga

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More than a SF saga, a religion

When Disney bought Star Wars, fans were already divided into two categories. There were those who wanted to give the company a chance in Mickey’s ears, and those who already thought that the universe created by George Lucas was dead and buried. It took several years for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens never made it to the cinema, and that didn’t really help the critics. Despite a convincing new casting and successful visual effects, the film directed by Abrams was then strongly criticized for its similarities with the first opus of the saga, among others. However, the latter had more or less seen them coming, because he already knew that this license acted as a real religion among certain fans. In any case, this is what he explained to Daisy Ridley when choosing her for the role of Rey:

Understand the scale. It’s not a role in a movie. It’s a religion for some people. It changes things on an inconceivable level.

If we can hardly prove him wrong, it remains surprising to imagine that JJ Abrams could have given this speech to Daisy Ridley when hiring her, all without preparing a real plan for the new trilogy. Because if the character of Rey has attracted a lot of criticism due to her power sometimes coming out of nowhere, Most criticism of this new trilogy revolved more around its writing than around its casting. However, it was the actors who found themselves on the front line facing the flood of insults, Daisy Ridley in particular.

Daisy Ridley, collateral victim of the new trilogy

While the prospect of playing in a license as popular as Star Wars could amaze any actor (and particularly those who had not yet made a name for themselves in the industry), it must be admitted that those who have had the chance to do so in the new trilogy have not all retained excellent memories of this experience. On the French show Clique, Daisy Ridley, for example, spoke about her feelings after seeing Star Wars 7:

I told myself that I was shit, that I was really worthless. I cried my eyes out thinking I was the worst thing to ever happen to Star Wars. I had never seen myself in a leading role so for me it was something unexpected and very surprising, it shocked me.

Between the release of episode 7 and that of episode 8, the British actress notably developed a form of anxiety so strong that she lived with holes in the wall of her stomach. Fortunately, Daisy Ridley has taken the time to take care of herself since then, especially during the pandemic. Today, you can find her in the main role of the independent film Miss Fran’s dream life, in which she plays a painfully shy office worker in a small port town. The film is particularly well made, and you can still see it in many cinemas in France.