Critique of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was been nothing if not divided…. Although, admittedly, the division here isn’t nearly as clear-cut as it was for its predecessor, The Last Jedi. The final episode of the Skywalker saga didn’t incense fans as did Episode VIII. Rather, in some ways, it simply disappointed. That, in turn, disappointed one of the film’s stars, who felt deeply proud of the work she’d done in the sequel trilogy. So much so that Daisy Ridley spoke up about reactions to The Rise of Skywalker in a recent interview.
Ridley, of course, portrayed the sequel trilogy’s central character Rey. The final film culminated with her character facing and overcoming her Palpatine heritage. By and large The Rise of Skywalker was well-received, earning another billion-plus dollars for Disney and Lucasfilm. Still, critical reviews were less than glowing, and it affect Daisy Ridley. In speaking on the podcast DragCast, she noted that “[l]ike 98%, it’s so amazing,” when it comes to commentary she’s seen for her time in Star Wars. But….
Daisy Ridley disappointed with Rise of Skywalker reaction
This last film, it was really tricky. January was not that nice. It was weird, I felt like all of this love that we’d sort of been shown the first time around, I was like ‘Where’s the love gone?’ I watched the documentary, the making-of, this week, and it’s so filled with love, and I think it’s that tricky thing of when you’re part of something that is so filled with love and then people….”
~ Daisy Ridley
The “and then” to which Daisy Ridley refers is, of course, people taking to social media with their opinions. Film reviews were once relegated to film critics of major publications or networks. Now, anyone with a keyboard and an Internet connection can bombard the world with their opinions.
I think in general, people share so much on social media…. I guess now conversations are just more public, so there’s stuff I wouldn’t have seen, but honestly trying to scroll through my newsfeed in January and trying not to see Star Wars stuff, I’d see headlines and be like ‘Oh my god this is so upsetting.’”
If we have any advice for Daisy Ridley, it’s this: Don’t read to much into what you see on the Internet. You’ve been an integral part of a multi-billion-dollar Star Wars film trilogy. Take pride in that.
