Via Interviewmagazine.com:
Making it and breaking it in Hollywood sometimes boils down to the next audition, the next fortuitous meeting, the next tape. A couple of years ago, Daisy Ridley was just one young actress making the rounds, paying her rent with wages made at a London pub, but then the magic happened. The west London native, youngest of five sisters, had recently wrapped a string of British TV roles when she got the chance to audition for a little sci-fi picture set in a galaxy far, far away.

From the moment news of her casting in J.J. Abrams’s Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens hit last year, the then-unknown became an object of fan obsession. And, despite the deep secrecy with which the re-ignition of George Lucas’s great saga has been treated, one gets the sense that Ridley is on the verge. What the world has seen so far of the 23-year-old, most of it in character, as Rey, a tanned warrior outfitted in desert garb, is just the beginning of the life-altering rise for the young actress.

But despite the action figures already being made in her likeness and the merchandise that promises to make her a household name, Ridley seems devoted to keeping her cool. As she tells her Force Awakens co-star, Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher, Ridley doesn’t know exactly what’s to come, but she’s ready.
CARRIE FISHER: We finally made it into interview mode, our destiny. Where are you?

DAISY RIDLEY: I’m in the car. I just got back from the airport in Berlin.

FISHER: Why were you in Berlin?

RIDLEY: I was doing press there, meeting all the lovely Germans.

FISHER: Are they embarrassed with the whole thing with Volkswagen? They have to recall, like, 200 million of them.

RIDLEY: I didn’t ask them about their Volkswagens. [laughs]

FISHER: I think you should. This is what I can teach you. This is how I make friends in foreign countries: Ask them about the biggest scandal since Fascism. Well, all right. I’m going to ask you questions, as the older person. Who were your role models as a child?

RIDLEY: Acting ones, or just people?

FISHER: I’ll go with both. I feel like we’re on Password.

RIDLEY: Well, my favorite film was Matilda [1996]. So I’m going to say the little girl [Mara Wilson] in that. I aspired to be like her. [laughs] I wanted to be a girl who could make a jug of water tip into a glass.

FISHER: Did you see old movies?

RIDLEY: My film knowledge is pretty shocking. I’m trying to correct that.

FISHER: I can help you with that. Not that that’s what you really want from me … [laughs] I actually did a show called On the Lot. I was supposed to be someone who knew about film, and I knew about two directors, and spent about three months watching every foreign film.

RIDLEY: Send the list of films you watched, and I’ll spend three months watching them all.

FISHER: So what actors do you like now? Besides me, of course.

RIDLEY: Of course you. Carey Mulligan and Felicity Jones are two of my favorites. I’m not so much younger than them. I like that. It’s kind of aspirational.

FISHER: And males? Any crushes?

RIDLEY: Not really! I’ve never been one for crushing on famous people.

FISHER: Cary Grant! Do you know who that is?

RIDLEY: Maybe I could appreciate the old-school film stars more.

FISHER: Because they were glamorous.

RIDLEY: Exactly. And mysterious.

FISHER: Actors today need to be too accessible. Who can have a crush on someone accessible? [laughs] The origin of the word romance is “not founded in reality.”

RIDLEY: People have been asking me about crushes out of the original film, and I say you every time. They were like, “Is there anyone you particularly look up to?” And I’m like, “Well, Carrie, obviously.”

FISHER: That’s good. You didn’t like Mark [Hamill] or Harrison [Ford]? This is the only time we’d ever have this conversation. [laughs]

RIDLEY: Of course, I like them both! But you’re a kick-ass woman.

FISHER: I’m your predecessor, I think.

RIDLEY: Exactly. You paved the way for all the girls.

FISHER: It was my gravel! Girl gravel! Girl-vel! So what did they ask you in Berlin?

RIDLEY: Mainly I’m asked how I got the role, did I like Star Wars before, and am I ready for what’s to come.

FISHER: And what do you say? Yes, yes, yes?

RIDLEY: I say, “I auditioned for the role because everyone did. I was there at the right time.”

FISHER: You were telling me about it! You auditioned five times or something?

RIDLEY: Yeah. I liked Star Wars, but I wasn’t an überfan like many people are. Which I didn’t realize, actually, until this year. I don’t know if I can prepare for what’s to come because I don’t know what will.

 

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