This December marks ten years since Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters. It subsequently revitalized the Star Wars franchise and introduced the world to a whole new group of Jedi and Sith. While some fans have, no doubt, watched the movie over and over again, the same cannot be said about one cast member. Lead actress Daisy Ridley admitted that she only recently caught a glimpse of herself in the iconic role for the first time in years. And, surprisingly, she was at the gym when she saw a portion of the flick.
It’s not that Daisy Ridley is opposed to watching herself — something that some actors have admitted hating having to do. It’s more so that she’s been busy since the sequel trilogy ended. However, as she explained to Collider, when the movie appeared on TV during a gym session, there was no reason for her not to catch a few minutes of the film that helped launch her Hollywood career. And it sounds like the experience was mostly delightful:
I'd watched [The Force Awakens] maybe three times around the time it came out, and weirdly, it was on at the gym when I was working out. So I saw a bit of it very recently. I feel like I've been able to separate, sort of, watching myself from the film as a whole. And I want to watch the film as a whole. It's never really comfortable, but certainly when it was on recently I was like 'aww!' And it felt really, like, very sweet to watch very young me on the screen.
I don’t know if I’d pick the gym to watch The Force Awakens for the first time in years, but I can kind of see the appeal of it. Nothing would motivate me to push harder on the treadmill or a bike than knowing Kylo Ren and his fleet of Stormtroopers were after me. Maybe Ridley is on to a new workout method.
With nearly ten years having passed since the release, it’s probably a lot easier to watch now that the memories and the harsh criticism of Rey have faded a bit. After all, Ridley has been candid about how nervous she was heading into the first read-through for The Force Awakens. Thankfully, she was in great hands and received life-changing advice from Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher.
It’s also probably a good idea for Ridley to get reacquainted with the role, considering a brand new Star Wars film centered around Rey is in active development, with the We Bury the Dead star set to reprise her role. Unfortunately, the untitled project is still a long way off as another new writer was just tapped for the production in the hopes of crafting the perfect script.
Star Wars fans are used to waiting, though, considering the prequel trilogy wasn’t released until 32 years afterReturn of the Jedi hit theaters. At the very least, fans can rest assured that Disney and Lucasfilm aren’t rushing into this project and that they want to ensure it makes sense in the timeline of events. And what’s even better is that Daisy Ridley has been heavily involved in the project behind the scenes, meaning Rey's legacy is in strong and capable hands. As she does so, here's hoping that Ridley does get the opportunity to screen all of The Force Awakens at some point.
For now, fans can revisit Daisy Ridley’s performances as Rey by streaming the sequel trilogy with an active Disney+ subscription Also, check out her new role as Joey Locke in the British action thriller Cleaner, which hits theaters on February 21st.
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