Daisy Ridley has candidly shared how the pressures of her meteoric rise to fame as Rey in 'Star Wars' affected her health, leading to significant stress and a 'leaky gut.'
- May 24, 2024
AceShowbiz - Daisy Ridley became a household name with her debut as Rey in the 2015 blockbuster "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." The British actress, now 32, has recently opened up about the physical toll her sudden fame took on her, revealing in an interview with The Times that the stress and anxiety led to stomach ulcers and what she described as a "leaky gut."
"I'd never travelled that much or done press junkets," Ridley shared. "My body deals with stress in a very physical way, so my gut was manifesting an emotional reaction to travelling around the world, people saying hello to me in the street. And me going, 'What's going on?' And worrying."
Ridley confessed that she initially struggled with feelings of imposter syndrome. "Oh s***, should it be me?" or "Am I good enough?" were questions that haunted her until the third film in the new trilogy, "The Rise of Skywalker," when she finally felt confident in her role. "By then, I felt, 'OK, I was chosen for a reason.' But it took a long time. It was super intense," she added.
The actress tried to cope with the stress by focusing on her work rather than the feedback she was receiving, whether positive or negative. "There was a feeling of vulnerability," Ridley admitted, but attention from the public added to her stress. "And I have a wonderful family and home life so I could come home and sit with my mum and cuddle the dog," she said.
In addition to her personal revelations, Ridley spoke about her upcoming involvement in the "Star Wars" franchise. She will reprise her role as Rey in a new movie set 15 years after "The Rise of Skywalker," written by Steven Knight, the creator of "Peaky Blinders," and directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. The film, which is set to begin filming this year, is rumored to be titled either "Star Wars: A New Beginning" or "Star Wars: New Jedi Order."
Obaid-Chinoy, a Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker and documentarian, is set to make history as the first woman and the first person of color to direct a feature film for the "Star Wars" franchise. Expressing her excitement, she said, "I'm very thrilled about the project because I feel what we're about to create is something very special."
Ridley is not just limited to the "Star Wars" universe; she can also be seen portraying Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel, in the upcoming film "Young Woman and the Sea." Despite still dealing with injuries from filming, Ridley shared her intense experience preparing for the role, which included training four times a week for four months.
Despite the challenges she's faced, Daisy Ridley remains a strong, inspiring figure who has navigated her way through the labyrinth of fame and emerged with resilience and grace - traits that young audiences can admire and learn from as they chase their own dreams.
