It’s been two months since Star Wars: The Force Awakens flew into theaters, and into film history. Since the movie’s release, The Force Awakens has been embraced by fans of the franchise as being the first truly good addition to the series since Return of the Jedi came to us in 1983. Of course, Episode VII was not without it’s flaws and causes for chagrin among the fan community. Perhaps the biggest gripe with The Force Awakens is the complete lack of Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker. After being noticeably absent from the marketing materials, fans were dismayed when Luke was missing from the entire movie, with the exception of a wordless appearance in the final scene with Rey.
Daisy Ridley has recently opened up in an interview about what a nightmare that controversial scene was to film:
I'll be honest with you, I was very sick one of the days we filmed. Mark was trying to do his serious acting, and I was like, retching in the cooler. I'm not kidding it was so awful.
Yikes. This does sound like a nightmare. Daisy Ridley must have known how important her scene with Mark Hamill was going to be, and to be almost physically unable to get through filming must have been a real challenge.
That iconic scene was filmed in Skellig Michael, a small island off the coast of Ireland. Once Rey landed on Luke’s hidden planet, she ascends a seemingly endless amount of stairs to finally reach the Jedi master. Considering just how sick Daisy Ridley was while filming, walking up those stairs take after take must have been a pretty taxing experience. It’s no wonder she was presumably throwing up in between takes- she was physically exerting her body which was already fighting something off.
Daisy Ridley does keep it classy though, citing that her stress and exhaustion could have been worse. While Ridley was fighting off illness, she stated that the steadicam operator had to make the same ascension except moving backward and while operating and holding the camera. That’s a seriously taxing few days of work. Check out Daisy Ridley’s comments, courtesy of GossIRe, below.
While there wasn’t nearly enough of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the scene did feel epic in its scale. Luke arrived with quite the grand entrance, and had an intensity in his wordless moments that showed the darkness and guilt that landed him in exile in the first place.
Daisy Ridley’s reaction seemed appropriately exacerbated and scared. But that might have also been her stomach talking.
