Fascinating Daisy Ridley Facts For Every Star Wars Fan

Most people know Daisy Ridley for her role as Rey, the Jedi Master in the "Star Wars" franchise. However, a closer inspection into the star's life proves that the celeb has so much more to her. Unlike her character who tragically grows up without a family to call her own, Ridley says that she comes from "a big family" full of exciting personalities (per The Guardian). Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ridley is such a natural on the silver screen because the actor has come from a family of performers and artists, including actor and playwright, Arthur Ridley.

Ridley always had a soft spot for the arts, and she took her passion for performing one step further when she enrolled via scholarship to the Tring Park School For The Performing Arts at nine-years old. Other graduates of the prestigious school include big names like Julie Andrews, Lily James, and Joe Ashman, to name a few (per Tringpark.com). After graduating at 18 years old, Ridley tried out college but decided to drop out (per The Guardian) in order to pursue her greatest passion of all: acting. And although she had a sliver of success before "Star Wars" with TV roles here and there, she didn't become a big name until starring in JJ Abrams' films. Take a look at some awesome facts about the mega-star.

Daisy Ridley was a struggling actor before landing herself a life-altering role in the "Star Wars" franchise as Rey. When she finally snagged the once-in-a-lifetime part, she was ecstatic. But despite agreeing to sign on for the role, Ridley admitted that the instant fame was difficult to navigate. The whole world was suddenly up in her business to the point where she realized how much she disliked being in the public eye. 

The actor told Tatler Magazine (per Yahoo!) that she never anticipated this level of exposure. "What I do know is that when I signed Star Wars, there was nothing in my contract that said, 'Your life will be talked about,'" she told the magazine. "But there came a point where I realized that so much of my life was known now. People knew my mother's name, my father's name, what my sisters do for a living..."

She took her need for privacy one step further when she deleted all her social media accounts and vowed at the time that she'd never return (per Glamour). Ridley has since gone back on Instagram, yet remains careful and selective about what she chooses to put out there.

Daisy Ridley may be the current face of the "Star Wars" films, but believe it or not, she was never a fan of the space-centric franchise while growing up. In fact, her loyalties were with a different successful franchise involving wizards and witches. According to GQ, when it came to her dedication toward the Harry Potter franchise, the "Star Wars" actor would "wait on the doorstep for each new Harry Potter book to arrive in the post and adored the films."

And while there are endless "Harry Potter" fans, Ridley's adoration for the magical series goes one step further than the rest for this hilarious reason. According to Ridley in an interview on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" (per Showbiz Cheatsheet) she used to flat out lie to her classmates about being a cast member of the films. News flash: she wasn't. 

The actor explains how far she took the lie, claiming that she told all her peers that she played Moaning Myrtle in the movies. "So I went to boarding school, so basically I copy and pasted a picture of Moaning Myrtle into Microsoft Word, wrote 'Daisy Ridley' underneath it, and left that in the common room," she hilariously spilled to Clarkson. "One, like a psychopath, two, as though anyone I went to school with would believe that I played Moaning Myrtle." Fortunately, dreams came true for Ridley when she got to act in a film alongside Draco Malfoy, uh, we mean Tom Felton, in "Ophelia" (per Daily Mail). 

In a way, Carrie Fisher served as Daisy Ridley's mentor while working on the "Star Wars" movie franchise. Of course, this doesn't come as much of a surprise considering they both play pivotal roles as leading women in the wildly popular movies. And when Ridley was asked which "Star Wars" actor she looks up to the most, she said without hesitation that it was Fisher who served as a role model (per Interview Magazine).

Things took a dark turn when Fisher unexpectedly died a sudden death at the age of 60 resulting from a heart attack (per People). This news, of course, shocked and saddened the nation. But Ridley, who had a personal relationship with the actor, had a particularly gut-wrenching reaction to the tragic news. According to the "Chaos Walking" star, she found out about Fisher's death while at the movie theaters. 

"I spoke to [my publicist] Heidi, and went to the bathroom and wailed," she reveals to The Guardian, recalling the exact moment she learned of her co-star's passing. "Someone sweetly came up to me and asked if I wanted a refund for my ticket. I said, 'No, I'm fine' and then I wailed more, and then I had a parking ticket and was, like, this is all awful."

As previously mentioned, Daisy Ridley is keen on keeping her personal life out of the public eye as much as possible. Because of this, she is not one to go blabbing off to magazines about the intimate details of her upbringing or what her parents or siblings are doing. But despite keeping her lips sealed about her private life, she had let the world know how much her immediate family means to her.

One would think that a person would want to become an actor for the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. However, while the paparazzi shots and the red carpet events might be ideal for some celebrities, Ridley prefers simple aspects of everyday life. In fact, according to the "Murder On The Oriental Express" actor, her definition of the happiest place on earth is at her parents' house. "I'm happiest when I'm having a nap on their sofa, because there's always a murmur of their voices," she revealed to The Guardian. "I find that very, very comforting."

Adorably, she and her family have adopted a blind and deaf dog named Muffin (per Celebrity Pets.) It doesn't get much cuter than that, people. 

As we now know, Daisy Ridley considers her privacy a top priority in her life. Being a mega-celebrity makes this task rather challenging, yet she is still willing to put her foot down when it comes to not allowing her personal life to be scrutinized and dissected by the public eye. And while some celebrity couples love to share every little detail about their romantic relationships, Ridley is the polar opposite in this regard. When Marie Claire asked the "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" starlet whether or not she was married to Tom Bateman, out of respect for her privacy, she was unwilling to give her fans a direct answer. 

Instead, she said, "The thing is, I've never talked about my personal life. So I won't talk about it now. I'm so aware of how much information about my life is out there, so if there's one thing I don't want to talk about ..." We at Nicki Swift respect her decision to keep her personal life private. After all, she did not sign on to the "Star Wars" franchise to have her life scrutinized and picked apart by strangers. She joined so she could kick butt as Rey in a galaxy far, far away!

Although we don't know much about their relationship, we do know that they allegedly met back in 2016 while filming the remake of "Murder on the Oriental Express." We also know that based on pictures revealed to The Daily Mail, these two are adorable together if we say so ourselves.

It's rare when a person can admit that they have a controlling personality. Daisy Ridley is not only publicly vocal about her controlling tendencies, but she is also someone who owns it. For example, Ridley doesn't like having her pictures taken with strangers. She is the same way when it comes to her friends taking photos of her since she doesn't want the public to know her whereabouts. "I'm like: 'You can't say where we are, not just because it's me –- because it's not safe,'" she revealed to The Guardian. But is turning down photos awkward for Ridley? Not at all. "I've never had an issue with saying things like that," Ridley confessed. "I'm not passively aggressive –- I'm just directly aggressive."

And while it's admirable to speak up about your wants and needs regardless of how uncomfortable it might sometimes be, there are instances where things in life are simply out of one's control. Fortunately, Ridley sought professional help to deal with it. "I went to Therapy for a bit which was great," she confessed in a 2019 interview with Glamour. "Because a lot of it is about feeling out of control because I'm quite controlling," she continued.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

While it's normal to hear about celebrities forced to deal with criticism from the general public, what we don't hear about as often is superstars speaking up about the criticism they receive from their co-workers. And according to Daisy Ridley, she has dealt with her share of rudeness on movie sets. The "Star Wars: Force Awakens" actor has opened up about how much the criticism hurt her at first, making her question whether or not she was taking up too much space. Speaking to Tatler magazine (per Yahoo!), Ridley states she was branded "intimidating" by crew members. 

When she heard that she had that label, her reaction was to question whether or not she came across too strongly. Insecure thoughts ran through her head, and she began thinking, "'God, should I be smaller? Should I be quieter?'" But that's not all. "My energy is 'quite aggressive,'" the actor recalls someone telling her. "That was during a meeting with a director. I was thinking, 'But why? Is it because I maintained eye contact? Is it because I'm passionate about what we're talking about?' I dunno. You have that horrible sinking feeling of, 'God, do I not come across the way I think I do?'" Fortunately, she has good self-esteem. She tells The Guardian, "I was always fairly confident ... and I think that comes from being part of a big family who are all quite chatty."

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Daisy Ridley is eternally humbled and honored that she got to be a part of the "Star Wars" movies. During an interview with The Guardian, she stated that being a part of the franchise has given her so much freedom as an actor that she knows she wouldn't have otherwise.

Of course, it was hard to say goodbye to her castmates and her character once filming wrapped, but one of the perks was a Hollywood tradition – stealing something from the movie set. Daniel Radcliffe famously held onto his glasses from the "Harry Potter" films (per The Daily Mail). Ryan Reynolds took home his iconic red suit from the "Deadpool" films (per MSN). But what did she take after exiting the "Star Wars" films once and for all?

According to Ridley in an interview with Lily Singh, she snagged a lightsaber from the film (we're admittedly jealous) as well as one of the rings her character wears as "Dark Rey" in "The Rise of Skywalker." She jokingly tells Singh that if she doesn't find any acting work in the next few years, she will sell the items on eBay if she's hard up for cash.

Daisy Ridley might not need to work another job for the rest of her life, considering how lucrative her role as Rey was in the "Star Wars" franchise. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the star has a hefty salary of nine million dollars. Despite having the freedom to take it easy forever, Ridley is passionate about the performing arts and wants to continue starring in movie roles.

According to IMDb, she has starred in movies such as "Chaos Walking," "The Bubble," and "The Marsh King's Daughter" to name a few. She is also set to act in upcoming projects that include "Sometimes I think About Dying," "The Inventor," and "Young Woman in the Sea."

And as challenging and often grueling as the filming process for JJ Abrams' movies were, Ridley admits how heartbreaking it was to say goodbye to the franchise. "It was so sad to finish 'Star Wars,'" she revealed to Entertainment Weekly. "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. She added, "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."