Daisy Ridley has revealed how her stressful Star Wars experience impacted her health.
The actress shot to fame after making her big screen debut in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which also starred the likes of Adam Driver, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.
In a new interview with The Times, Ridley said she was thrilled to be given the opportunity, but admitted that she also felt significant anxiety and stress after becoming the face of a major film franchise.
Revealing that her anxiety led to stomach ulcers, she said: “Essentially, it was a leaky gut,” before adding that she was “just knackered” while promoting the film.
“I’d never travelled that much, or done press junkets, and my body deals with stress in a very physical way, so my gut was manifesting an emotional reaction to travelling around the world, people saying hello to me in the street. And me going, ‘What’s going on?’ And worrying.”
Ridley also admitted to being worried about whether she was the right choice for the role of Rey, and if she was “good enough” to lead the franchise. It wasn’t until the third film in the trilogy that she finally felt confident.
Listing her worries, she said: “‘Oh shit, should it be me?’ or ‘Am I good enough?’ And I only really felt I was by the third film, The Rise Of Skywalker. By then, I felt, ‘OK, I was chosen for a reason.’ But it took a long time. It was super intense.”
To deal with her stress and imposter syndrome, Ridley said she took comfort in focusing on her work, rather than the feedback from fans, “because, whether that was positive or negative there was a feeling of vulnerability”.
She added: “And I have a wonderful family and home life so I could come home and sit with my mum and cuddle the dog.”
In January, it was revealed that Ridley would reprise the role of Rey for a new Star Wars movie, set several years after the The Rise Of Skywalker. Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is writing the film, while Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is set to direct.
The film is rumoured to be titled either Star Wars: New Jedi Order or Star Wars: A New Beginning.