When it comes to legacy and iconic roles in the film industry, people often associate them with long-running cinematic franchises with several years of production under their belt or a high commercial success number in front of them. For Daisy Ridley, that role must be Rey Skywalker from the sequel trilogy in the Star Wars franchise.
But before the actress made her debut as the main protagonist of the new series, there were chances that the production could give the role to Academy Award-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan, which unfortunately for the actress, never happened. Along with losing this role, she also lost the chance to play Yelena Belova in the MCU to Florence Pugh.
How Saoirse Ronan Lost The Role Of Rey Skywalker To Daisy Ridley In The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
While they don’t necessarily guarantee that a star might become one of the biggest in the industry, the association of an actor or actress to a big franchise in Hollywood does give that opportunity to them to make it happen. Daisy Ridley made the most of the opportunity when she bagged the role of Rey Skywalker in the last Star Wars trilogy, dubbed The Skywalker Saga.
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And despite the less-than-favorable outcome of the franchise in terms of critical appraisal, she still has a chance to make a name for herself through her performance in the future. But she also could’ve lost this iconic and life-changing role to actress Saoirse Ronan, the actress known for mostly doing award-worthy films in her career.
In a past interview with Empire, the Little Women actress opened up about her auditions for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, where she said that she had to pretend to take out a lightsabre from the bag, something that Ridley does in the film. She revealed that there were so many others for the auditions that she had little hope of getting the part in the film. She said:
“Everyone has auditioned for it. So many people I know have gone in for the part I’ve gone in for, and guys who’ve gone in for a particular part, so I’d imagine J.J. [Abrams] is probably just scanning the earth to find the people that one needs, but nobody has a clue what it’s about, and nobody’s read the script. I think it’s the only time I’ve ever thought, ‘You know what? Even if I don’t get it, I had so much fun auditioning, pretending to take out a lightsaber out of a bag, kind of inspect it, and not know what it is.’”
This wasn’t the only time she lost the chance to play an iconic character in her career, as later, she would lose the role of Yelena Belova to Florence Pugh.
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Ronan Declined The Role Of Yelena Belova In The MCU
Ronan had another chance to diversify her career into commercial films, but yet again, she lost this chance when Pugh was chosen for the role of Belova in the MCU.
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But this wasn’t due to her not living up to the expectations of the production, she deliberately turned down this role as she didn’t want to become part of the MCU, which might be true for the future as well. It was reported that she didn’t like the fact that Marvel Studios was doing with the film industry, and it wasn’t her cup of tea.
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, streaming on Disney+.
