Daisy Ridley Biography

Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley (born 10 April 1992) is an English actress. She began her acting career by appearing in minor television roles, before being cast as the main protagonist, Rey, in the Star Wars sequel trilogy - first appearing in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).

Early life

Daisy Ridley was born on 10 April 1992, in Westminster, London. She is the youngest of three daughters born to Louise Fawkner-Corbett and Chris Augustine Ridley. She has two older sisters, Kika Rose and Poppy Sophia. She also has two older half-sisters from her father's first marriage. Her great-uncle was Dad's Army actor and playwright Arnold Ridley. She won a scholarship to Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, which she attended between the ages of 9 and 18. She then began to study classical civilisation at Birkbeck, University of London before dropping out to concentrate on her acting career.

Career

2013-14: Beginnings

Ridley began her career with minor roles in the television programmes Youngers, Toast of London, Silent Witness, Mr Selfridge and Casualty. She also appeared in the short film Blue Season, which was entered into the Sci-Fi-London 48-Hour Film Challenge. Ridley played the lead in film three of Lifesaver, an interactive film which was nominated for a BAFTA Award. She has also appeared in the music video for Wiley's song "Lights On".

2014-present: Star Wars

In April 2014, Ridley's casting as Rey, one of the lead characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was announced. She was chosen for the film in February 2014. Her choice by director J. J. Abrams was seen as a repeat of George Lucas's move of casting relatively unknown actors for the lead roles in the first Star Wars film in 1977. At the time of her casting she was, according to Rolling Stone, a "total unknown". In October 2015, Ridley appeared at the launch of a set of Star Wars postage stamps issued by the UK postal service Royal Mail, with Ridley's character Rey featuring on a stamp along with the droid BB-8. With international revenues of over $2 billion, The Force Awakens was a major box-office hit and the highest-grossing film of 2015. After an early screening of the film, Brian Viner of the Daily Mail called Ridley the "real star of the show", adding that her performance as Rey should "send her career into orbit". Her performance received critical acclaim, with Richard Roeper describing her portrayal as "a breakout performance".

Ridley voiced the lead role of Taeko in the English dub of the 1991 animated film Only Yesterday, released on 1 January 2016 in New York City and scheduled for release throughout the US on 26 February. She will also continue her role as Rey in Star Wars: Episode VIII, which is scheduled to be released in December 2017.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Scrawl	Hannah	Zed Film Festival Award for Outstanding Acting
2015	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	Rey	Florida Film Critics Circle Breakout Award Pending - Kid's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress Pending - Saturn Award for Best Actress  Nominated - Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated - Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Female Action Star Nominated - Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Breakthrough Film Artist Nominated - Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Breakthrough Performance Nominated - Georgia Film Critics Association for Best Ensemble Nominated - Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Female Nominated - Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Ensemble
2016	Only Yesterday	Taeko Okajima (voice)	English dub
2017	Star Wars: Episode VIII	Rey	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Casualty	Fran Bedingfield	Episode: "And the Walls Come Tumbling Down"
2013	Youngers	Jessie	Episode: "A to B and the Apology"
2013	Toast of London	Charlotte	Episode: "Vanity Project"
2014	Silent Witness	Hannah Kennedy	2 episodes
2014	Mr Selfridge	Roxy Starlet	Episode #2.8
2015	Saturday Night Live	Herself	Segment: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens Screen Tests"

Short films

Year	Title	Role
2013	"Lifesaver"	Jo
2013	"Blue Season"	Sarah
2013	"100% BEEF"
2013	"Crossed Wires"	Her

Music videos

Year	Artist	Title	Role
2013	Wiley	"Lights On"	Kim

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0	Rey (voice)	Star Wars: The Force Awakens playset