Star Wars is one of the greatest media franchises of all time, meaning the biggest filmmakers and actors in Hollywood would give their one arm (not literally) to be part of a story from a galaxy far, far away.
However, at the same time, being attached to such an iconic saga comes with its own cost. In particular, the pressure from die-hard fans to remain true to the original theme, not mess up any key detail, and at the same time match the taste and standards of the current cinema is jarring for everyone involved. Daisy Ridley experienced it all when she became the lead face of the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
How Daisy Ridley Reacted to Fans’ Extreme Reaction to Skywalker Saga in Star Wars
Daisy Ridley was largely unknown before she entered the Star Wars universe as Rey in The Force Awakens (2015), the first chapter of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The installment shed light on a conflict between the First Order and the Resistance. It is set thirty years after Episode VI Return of the Jedi.
The J.J. Abrams-directed film became a huge box office success, grossing $2.071 billion globally. It was also received well by both the new viewers and loyal followers, who welcomed the introduction of Finn, Rey, and Poe and enjoyed the chemistry they shared.
However, the Skywalker Saga took a turn for the worse in the second movie, which separated Finn and Rey and ignored the character development of Poe. Meanwhile, The Rise of Skywalker (2019) divided opinion by abandoning the idea of “new legends will be born” mid-way through the movie by relying on nostalgia.
Accordingly, Ridley has never managed to escape questions concerning the mixed reactions the Skywalker Saga generated. The same happened when she recently appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Speaking about how divisive the reception to the series was, the 31-year-old said:
“I think it’s still upsetting because you don’t want people to feel like you’ve not served the thing that they are a fan of.”
Ridley then suggested The Force Awakens generated a fairly similar response from everyone, but things changed from the Rian Johnson-directed film. Abrams returned for the third chapter, but even he failed to impress a large percentage of Star Wars fans.
How Mark Hamill Reacted After Reading the Script of Daisy Ridley’s The Last Jedi
Whether Johnson’s entry derailed the franchise has always been a big subject of debate. But it’s known his ideas weren’t accepted wholeheartedly by Mark Hamill.
When Hamill first read the script of The Last Jedi (2017), he disagreed with the changes that the writer-director made to Luke Skywalker. As per IMDb, he told Johnson:
“I pretty much fundamentally disagree with every choice you’ve made for this character. Now having said that, I have gotten it off my chest, and my job now is to take what you’ve created and do my best to realize your vision.”
The decision to portray Luke as a defeated man polarized the fandom more than any other change. Despite different visions, Hamill wrote a personal backstory for the character to get into the mindset of an old and weary Luke.
