Daisy Ridley had severe anxiety while filming the “Star Wars” movies as she dealt with the fame that comes with the franchise.
Taking on the role of Rey changed the actress’ life 10 years ago, Ridley told Inverse.
Ridley, 31, recalled “Star Wars” director J.J. Abrams telling her, “Understand the scale. This is not a role in a movie. This is a religion for people. It changes things on a level that is inconceivable.”
“When all of the craziness was going on, I was like, ‘I’m good. I’m good. I’m coping fine. Everything’s fine.’ And I was fine, for the most part,” she told the outlet. “But I think what I was really grappling with was that it was my normal, but it was not normal to other people.”
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J.J. Abrams warned Daisy Ridley of the fame that would come with her role in “Star Wars.” (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for MTV)
Daisy Ridley, left, stars as Rey in the “Star Wars” franchise. (Getty Images)
Due to the fame that followed her new role, Ridley began isolating herself.
“For friends and family, or any people who see something in a slightly different way than you do, there’s this projection of you and you in that world, and how it feels to do this and that,” Ridley said. “And you’re like, ‘Well, actually, I’m just a human being, separate from that.’ It’s quite this wrestle of the reality and the fantasy that’s often projected onto you.”
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Ridley developed “holes in her stomach wall” due to the severe anxiety she was experiencing by the time “The Last Jedi” premiered in 2017. At the time, she took a six-month sabbatical before jumping into filming for “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Daisy Ridley developed holes in the lining of her stomach due to severe anxiety. (Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images)
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The actress first spoke about her health issues in a 2020 interview with GQ.
“I saw a picture of me at the London premiere [for ‘The Last Jedi’], and I was so skinny and my skin was terrible,” she revealed. “My body was just f—ed up. I got tests done, and it turned out my body was taking in no nutrients. I was just like a little skeleton, and I was just so tired. I was becoming a ghost.”
John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill attend the “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” photo call in 2017. (Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
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“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” premiered in 2019, and the coronavirus pandemic shut the world down just three months later, giving Ridley an opportunity to overcome her anxiety.
“After the last Star Wars came out and everything was quiet, I was like, ‘What the f—?’ I was grieving,” Ridley told Inverse.
“Having to sit and just be still in lockdown was incredibly helpful in a way I hadn’t anticipated,” she added. “I realized there was a lot that I hadn’t processed properly.”