NO. Daisy Ridley Did Not Struggle To Find Work Because Of 'Star Wars'

After movie stars finish a major franchise, fans often wonder, "What will they do next?" 

In the wake of the end of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, big stars like Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, and Daisy Ridley are moving onto new projects. With Isaac starring in the new Denis Villeneuve Dune film and Driver lined up for a host of projects including the rock opera Annette, Ridley's future career prospects have also been a topic of discussion. 

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Daisy Ridley revealed that for a few months after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's release, she didn't have very many job prospects. She said that "there were actually loads of things that [she] auditioned for," but "at the beginning of the year nothing was coming through." Ridley did not say this brief break in work had anything to do with Star Wars, but the lull in work seems like something that might have been disheartening and difficult after her success in such a huge franchise. However, she admitted that, in a way, "it was good mentally for" her to take a break.

"It was so sad to finish [Star Wars] . . . . When the film was released, I was like, 'Oh my God.' It was such a huge chapter. And, weirdly, the past few months of not having much… Obviously now it’s really nice to be working, but not having much [at the time] I feel like I processed the last five years. To be forced to slow down, it was good mentally for me because [Star Wars was] a big thing in my life."

However, Ridley went on to say that around the end of February and in early March, "things started picking up," which resulted in her upcoming voiceover role in the new Annapurna game Twelve Minutes. She will star opposite It Chapter Two star James McAvoy, and both will be playing unnamed characters in a story about a man who must relive twelve minutes of his life repeatedly to solve the mystery of his own death. 

Ridley also has a few other voiceover projects coming up, including Baba Yaga, an animated interactive film to be featured on the Oculus Quest virtual reality platform, and Islanders, an original Audible series by playwright Elinor Cook. According to her IMDb page, she also has a few film projects in pre-production, including the animated film The Inventor and the spy drama based on the novel of the same name, A Woman of No Importance.

While we are excited to see Ridley go on to other projects, there is always hope that she will be able to return to the Star Wars universe in one way or another. Given that there was so much controversy surrounding the final film, it is at least heartwarming to hear that she valued the experience and was sad to leave it behind.

While her co-stars John Boyega and Oscar Isaac have expressed very little interest in ever returning to Star Wars, Ridely said that, while it seems unlikely that she will return, the door is always open.

In an interview with IndieWire, she said:

"There are so many characters in the ‘Star Wars’ world who’ve never been explored. There’s so much for the filmmakers to work on. So right now, I don’t think so. But who could say, really? An opportunity might present itself."

For now, we are excited to see her new projects, especially since she is branching out into other media like video games, audiobooks, and animated films. We hope that there is even more in store for her in the future, and that we may very well see her as Rey again one day, too!

Source(s): Entertainment Weekly, IndieWire