What was Daisy Ridley's first movie role?
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Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley (born 10 April 1992) is an English actress. Born in Westminster and brought up in Maida Vale, Ridley trained in drama at the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. She began acting in minor guest roles on television and in short films, making her film debut in the independent horror film "Scrawl" (2015). She rose to international prominence for playing the lead role of Rey in the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, starring in "" (2015) and "" (2017). She is also known for her performance of Mary Debenham in "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017), and as the voice of Cottontail in "Peter Rabbit" (2018).
Daisy Ridley
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Ridley began her career with minor roles in the television programmes "Youngers", "Toast of London", "Silent Witness", "Mr Selfridge", and "Casualty". She 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 also appeared in the music video for Wiley's song "Lights On", playing the character of Kim. Ridley made her film debut in the 2015 British independent horror film "Scrawl", after her scenes from the British comedy film "The Inbetweeners 2" were removed in the final cut.
In April 2014, Ridley's casting as Rey, one of the lead characters in "", was announced. She was chosen for the film in February 2014. At the time of her casting she was, according to "Rolling Stone", a "total unknown." 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. Ridley began filming her scenes in May 2014 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, and prior to the film's release in December 2015, she appeared at the launch of a set of "Star Wars" postage stamps issued by the UK postal service Royal Mail, with her 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" and adding "Ford has a terrific father figure chemistry [shared] with Ridley and [John] Boyega".
Daisy Ridley
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Ridley became executive producer of the documentary "The Eagle Huntress" in January 2016. Director Otto Bell said of her commitment, "Like so many other theatergoers around the world, I was blown away by Daisy's recent portrayal of an empowered female protagonist. I'm thrilled she'll be bringing that same energy to supporting a real-world heroine who is also on an epic journey to win victory in a far away land." The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 24 January 2016, with Ridley narrating. She was one of several actors featured on Barbra Streisand's 2016 album "". Along with Anne Hathaway, Ridley and Streisand perform the song "At the Ballet" from "A Chorus Line", with Ridley performing the role of Bebe, one of a trio of dancers hoping to be cast in an upcoming show.
Daisy Ridley
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Daisy Ridley was largely unknown before being cast for the role of Rey. Ridley said that she auditioned many times for the role over the course of seven months and had to keep her casting a secret for three months. She was announced as part of the cast at the end of April 2014. She only had experience with small parts in TV shows. Her inexperience and lack of exposure were a crucial part of what convinced Abrams to give Ridley the role, as the previous installments had featured relatively unknown talent that would not experience heightened degrees of scrutiny. Abrams stated that Ridley "was so funny and had a great spark", as well as having her act out an emotional scene, proclaiming that "she nailed it on the first take." Abrams would go on to praise Ridley, stating "She was born with this gift to be in a moment and make it her own. She simultaneously works from the inside out and the outside in." Kennedy proclaimed "Daisy had a physicality and a self-confidence that was so important to the character we were looking for. She epitomizes that optimism where anything is possible." Director Dusan Lazarevic, who was present at the casting of Ridley for a role in British drama series "Silent Witness", in addition to praising her acting range, stated "She showed a combination of vulnerability and strength which gave her a complexity, and there was an intelligence in her eyes that was an indicator she could play quite a complicated part." Cailey Fleming was additionally cast to portray a young Rey.
Rey (Star Wars)
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In January 2018, Ridley starred in "Ophelia", a reimagining of the Hamlet tale, alongside Naomi Watts and Clive Owen, in the titular role. The project was filmed from April to July 2017 and debuted at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In February 2018, Ridley voiced the role of Cottontail in "Peter Rabbit", an adaptation of the children's stories of the same name by Beatrix Potter.
Daisy Ridley
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Daisy Ridley was born on 10 April 1992 in Westminster, London, and grew up in Maida Vale. She is the youngest of three daughters born to Louise Fawkner-Corbett, a banker, and Christopher Ridley, a photographer. She has two older sisters, Kika Rose and Poppy Sophia. Her mother's family, the Fawkner-Corbetts, were landed gentry with a military and medical background. Her great-uncle was "Dad's Army" actor and playwright Arnold Ridley; his brother, Daisy's grandfather, John Harry Dunn Ridley, O.B.E., was head of the Engineering Secretariat at the B.B.C. from 1950 to 1965. While growing up, her favourite film was "Matilda" (1996), an adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's story, with the title character (played by Mara Wilson in the film) a role model to her. Ridley 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 reading classical civilisation at Birkbeck, University of London, before dropping out to concentrate on her acting career. Prior to being cast in "The Force Awakens", Ridley worked as a bartender in two different pubs in London for nearly two years. In 2016 Ridley began studying for a Bachelor of Arts in social science through online courses with the Open University.
Daisy Ridley
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In March 2019, Ridley will co-star in the "Chaos Walking", an adaptation of the young adult novel by Patrick Ness, as Viola Eade opposite Tom Holland as Todd Hewitt. The project was filmed from August to November 2017. In December 2019, Ridley will reprise her role as Rey in "", the last film in the sequel trilogy, filming in the summer of 2018.
Daisy Ridley
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The character and Ridley's portrayal have received critical acclaim. Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" proclaimed that Rey is "a woman warrior with the stylish ferocity of a kung-fu star", praising "the verve [Ridley] must have been born with plus the skill she must have acquired as a young actress coming up in England", later adding "It's hard to imagine what the movie—and the sequels to come—might have been if they'd cast the wrong person, but here Daisy Ridley is in all her unassuming glory, and all's right with the galaxy". Adam Howard of "MSNBC" stated that "one of the most pleasant surprises of the film has been the strength of its lead female character", adding that some have likened Rey to a "new feminist icon". Relatedly, Emily Rome of "HitFix" argued that Rey is "everything we wanted in a "Star Wars" female character", praising her for being a character that is "independent, skilled, scrappy, tough, and doesn't need saving". In a personal essay, Nicole Sperling of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote about her daughters feeling empowered after viewing the film, stating, "They never commented on how pretty Rey is. They never had to flinch because Rey was a sexual object to some man in power. They just felt strong. Equal".
Rey (Star Wars)
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Daisy Ridley and John Boyega each received several nominations and accolades for their performances. They were nominated as Best Newcomers at various critics circle and associations, including the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and the Florida Film Critics Circle, "The Force Awakens" received eleven nominations at the MTV Movie Awards, the most for the ceremony, including Movie of the Year, Best Female Performance for Ridley, Best Breakthrough Performance for Boyega, and Best Virtual Performance for Lupita Nyong'o and Andy Serkis.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
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During 2000, Hamm obtained the role of romantic firefighter Burt Ridley on NBC's drama series "Providence". His one-episode contract grew to 19, and enabled him to quit waiting tables. Hamm made his feature movie debut with one line in Clint Eastwood's space adventure "Space Cowboys" (2000); more substantial roles followed in the independent comedy movie "Kissing Jessica Stein" (2001) and the war film "We Were Soldiers" (2002). During filming that movie, he turned 30. His career was bolstered by his playing the recurring role of police inspector Nate Basso on Lifetime's television series "The Division", from 2002 to 2004. Other minor roles followed on the television series "What About Brian", "", "Related", "Numb3rs", "The Unit", and "The Sarah Silverman Program". Hamm's "Mad Men" castmate Eric Ladin had said that one of the reasons he admires Hamm is that while he "made it" later than most actors, Hamm never gave up on acting.
Jon Hamm