The most talked about moment from April’s teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was undoubtedly the cackling of Emperor Palpatine, heralding the villain’s return. But the coolest moment went to Daisy Ridley’s Rey. With Lightsaber in hand, the sequel trilogy’s heroine backflips over an incoming TIE fighter. It was a truly awesome shot that showed how much Rey has leveled up and fans were excited to see it.
You would think Daisy Ridley would be stoked to see the fans flipping out over her flip, but she was actually bummed. That’s because it wasn’t really her, as she explained:
I had learnt a version of it, but there was a risk of breaking ankles so I couldn't do the full thing. But there’s a bit in the film where you see me upside down. It's funny because I did 95% of my (stunts), but that's the one thing I didn't fully do. People are like, ‘Oh, that’s so cool,’ and I’m like, ‘Ugh.’
Daisy Ridley was bummed about the reactions to Rey’s big moment in the Rise of Skywalker teaser trailerm because fans were freaking out about the one thing that wasn’t actually her. Rey the character does the flip, but Daisy Ridley the actress didn’t. So she couldn’t get excited about the response or take credit for it because she knows it wasn’t actually her.
To have the one Rey moment people were talking about be the one that wasn’t really her was kind of disappointing for the actress. But just because she didn’t do the flip, doesn’t mean that she couldn’t or that she didn’t contribute to it at all.
As Daisy Ridley told USA Today, she learned a version of the flip, but due to the risk of her getting hurt she wasn’t allowed to perform the entire stunt. Apparently Lucasfilm wasn’t willing to risk Ridley potentially breaking her ankles-- and she must not have the Tom Cruise clause that says she can do all of her stunts and break whatever bones she wants.
It’s probably for the best, between the Mission: Impossible actor and Daniel Craig on Bond 25, ankles are having a rough go of it in blockbuster movies these days. Although she didn’t get to perform the full stunt, Daisy Ridley did do part of it and as she says part of the shot where Rey is upside down is actually her.
To be fair to Daisy Ridley, Rey only had that one big moment in the trailer for fans to freak out over; unfortunately it was the one she didn’t entirely do, which made the reaction a bit of a bummer. Beyond that, the actress said that she did the vast majority of her own stunts so there will still be plenty of opportunities for her to shine both in the movie itself and whenever we get the full trailer.
You can see Daisy Ridley’s final portrayal of Rey, for now at least, when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker blasts into theaters on December 20. Check out our premiere guide for everything you can look forward to until then and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all your movie news.
