Star Wars: Daisy Ridley Was Told Rey Was No One During The Force Awakens

It's been over a year since The Rise of Skywalker concluded the Star Wars sequel trilogy but there are still new things to learn about the divisive final film. Questions have been raised over how much of the sequel trilogy was planned from the outset, given there was a shuffling of directors during production.

JJ Abrams kicked off the series with The Force Awakens and Rian Johnson continued the story in The Last Jedi. However, Colin Trevorrow was originally meant to helm The Rise of Skywalker but left the film before shooting commenced, to be replaced by JJ Abrams. 

This led to a whole lot of story changes in The Rise of Skywalker that didn't seem to line up with what was set up in the first two films. Audiences left cinemas confused, but it seems they weren't the only ones let down by some of these story decisions. 

DAISY RIDLEY THOUGHT REY WAS NOBODY

Author Sariah Wilson posted new Tweets regarding a conversation she had with Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in the Star Wars sequel movies. Wilson said she loved the idea that Rey came from nowhere and was disappointed when The Rise of Skywalker revealed she was actually a Palpatine, which Ridley agreed with. 

I told Daisy Ridley how much I loved Rey Nobody, how Rey was just powerful on her own and was sad when they made her a Palpatine.

Daisy said she also loved that Rey came from nowhere and for the first two films

— Sariah Wilson (@sariahwilson) February 26, 2021

Ridley also said that "I literally was told that she was no one, so yeah, I totally understand that. I do understand that."

"I literally was told that she was no one, so yeah, I totally understand that. I do understand that."

I apologized again for bringing up SW, and she smiled and told me, "It's all good!"

— Sariah Wilson (@sariahwilson) February 26, 2021

Just in case people aren't putting the tweets together, she said for the first two movies she was told that Rey was no one.

— Sariah Wilson (@sariahwilson) February 26, 2021

 

REY'S HERITAGE WAS ALWAYS A QUESTION

One of the big questions a lot of audiences had going into the sequel trilogy was whether these new characters would be related to the legacy Star Wars characters. Everyone quickly learned that Kylo Ren was the son of Leia and Han Solo but Rey's parentage was intentionally left unanswered. The Last Jedi seemed to build up the narrative that Rey's parents weren't important Star Wars figures, which many fans responded to because it meant Rey was powerful on her own without the need for an important heritage. 

It seems this is what the actors were also lead to believe as well, with Ridley saying she was also told that Rey was a nobody for the duration of the first two films. Ridley has previously discussed how frequently Rey's backstory changed during production, so this comment lines up with the idea that The Rise of Skywalker undid what had been set up in previous films. 

This isn't the only instance of The Rise of Skywalker changing things last minute, with Ridley revealing that the Rey and Ben Solo kiss could've gone either way. John Boyega has also openly discussed his disappointment with the sidelining of his character, Finn, in The Rise of Skywalker, which wasn't originally planned.

Whether there was a solid plan for the sequel trilogy is unknown, but if there was it seems The Rise of Skywalker really deviated from that plan.