Daisy Ridley Says the Divisive Star Wars Backlash Still Upsets Her

Daisy Ridley says the reaction to the Star Wars sequel films still stings, years after she starred as Rey. In resurfaced podcast remarks, the actor reflected on how differently audiences received the trilogy’s installments and admitted that criticism can be difficult to revisit. Asked whether she was surprised by the divided response to 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, Ridley agreed that the reception had been divisive. She explained that it is upsetting when fans feel a film has not honored the story they care about. Her concern, she said, was not that every viewer would agree with the creative choices, but that people might feel the film had failed to serve the franchise they loved. Ridley also recalled the contrasting responses to the three movies. She described 2015’s The Force Awakens as receiving a broadly similar reaction from viewers, while Rian Johnson’s 2017 entry, The Last Jedi, was “so divisive.” She said The Rise of Skywalker also prompted sharply differing opinions. Despite the debate, Ridley stressed that the criticism did not change how she felt about making the films. The comments have resurfaced amid renewed discussion of Star Wars after Adam Driver said he was finished with the franchise following the shelving of a proposed Kylo Ren and Ben Solo film, The Hunt for Ben Solo. Ridley’s remarks instead look back at her own experience with the sequel trilogy and the pressure of taking on a role beloved by fans. Ridley was announced in 2023 as the star of a planned film about the New Jedi Order. The story was expected to take place after The Rise of Skywalker and follow Rey as she tried to rebuild the Jedi Order. The article reports that the project has since faced multiple writer changes and that no official update has confirmed its future. Fans have speculated that it could be folded into a new trilogy, but the studio has not announced that outcome.