‘Star Wars’ actress Daisy Ridley is on the cover of the December issue of City AM The Magazine. In her interview, Ridley talked about the ‘Star Wars’ spin off.
Ridley came to the attention of ‘Star Wars’ producers ten years ago while working a part-time job pulling pints in a London pub. Her agent got Ridley an audition for ‘Star Wars’ director JJ Abrams, who was looking for Rey Skywalker, a human female Jedi fighting in the ranks of the Resistance. After a series of small roles in TV series such as Silent Witness, Casualty and Mr Selfridge, she landed the lead role and was highly promoted. The last Star Wars entry was in 2019, though she’s returning with a Rey spin-off.
Ridley said about on ‘Star Wars’ Rey biopic: “I don’t know how involved I’ll be as a producer, but it’s happening, it’s all good!”
Ridley came up with the initial idea for Magpie, but it evolved during production. It was unusual for Bateman to turn someone else’s idea into a script, as he has “a pile” of ideas at home waiting to be made; conversely, Ridley says she “doesn’t actually have that many ideas”.
Ridley’s Rey spin-off is in what fans call ‘production purgatory’ after a string of creatives pulled out, and there are fears the whole film may get scrapped. “That’s actually funny, I got a text from my friend the other day saying this… But I can categorically say that he’s not going to be involved. That would be hilarious. I mean that would be a story.”
Ridley produced Magpie alongside three other projects; When asked if she will be behind the camera in ‘Star Wars,’ she said, “All of those conversations are positive and happening. Certainly in the producorial way I don’t know that I will be that involved, but what has been amazing was creatively Kathy [Kennedy, Star Wars producer] told me the idea for the story which is great and I’ve been over all of the developments, so I feel more consciously involved [than before] but I remember various things either JJ [Abrams] or Ryan [Johnson] told me, so I was always really made to feel involved. But on this one I’m aware of the route development. It’s also really nice to know that we have the time to do it right, and of course I’m really excited to film and I’m really excited to share developments with the world. It’s all good, it really is!”
‘Star Wars: New Jedi Order’ was originally scheduled for a 2026 release. According to insider reports, screenwriter Steven Knight left the movie. His exit follows that of previous writers Damon Lindelof (‘Watchmen’) and Justin Britt-Gibson (‘Banshee’).
