Rey (Star Wars)

Rey
Star Wars character

Daisy Ridley as Rey in The Force Awakens
First appearance The Force Awakens (2015)
Created by
Portrayed by Daisy Ridley[2]
Cailey Fleming (young)
Voiced by Daisy Ridley (Disney Infinity 3.0)
Information
Species Human
Gender Female
Occupation

Rey is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Daisy Ridley. First appearing as the central character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens,[4][1][5] Rey is a scavenger who was left behind on the planet Jakku when she was a child, and later becomes involved with the Resistance's conflict with the First Order when her solitary life is interrupted by BB-8, the droid of ace Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, and the runaway Stormtrooper Finn.

Creation and casting

Screenwriter Michael Arndt said that he found Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's offer to write the Star Wars sequel trilogy daunting in mid-2012, but he became interested when it was explained to him to be about the origin story of a female Jedi and he met with George Lucas.[6] The character was a young woman known as Kira in the early stages of production, and Arndt described her as a "loner, hothead, gear-head, badass".[7] Arndt said that he struggled with introducing the young woman as the main character in his story while keeping her from being overshadowed after her early meeting with the Luke Skywalker character.[6]

On creating a female lead for the new trilogy, director and writer J. J. Abrams stated that from his initial discussions with writer Lawrence Kasdan, he was excited at the concept of having a woman at the center of the story. He said that "We always wanted to write Rey as the central character" and that other female representation in the story was also important.[1] Kennedy stated that "Rey is the new generation’s Luke Skywalker."[8] Rey's background as a scavenger was part of the developers attempting to portray her as "the ultimate outsider and the ultimate disenfranchised person" due to their belief that a person of that nature would have a prolonged journey compared to other types of people.[9]

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.[10] 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.[11] 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."[12] 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."[12] 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."[11] Cailey Fleming was additionally cast to portray a young Rey.[13]

Although Ridley expressed that she was "riddled with doubts and insecurities", she stated that Rey's hopefulness is what she related to most in Rey, going on to say it "was something driving me through the auditions—even though it felt so insanely out of anything that I could've imagined."[14] Ridley recalled her shooting experience as starting off bumpy, with Abrams telling her that her first few takes were "wooden".[15] However, Ridley and Abrams had an "incredibly collaborative" process with creating Rey; Ridley recalled that the character "changed from when we first began, she became softer. And I think that's probably me, because Americans tend not to understand me, so it helped, slowing down the speech and everything just made it softer than I am."[14] On her character, Ridley has stated that Rey will have "some impact in a girl power-y way," adding that the character "doesn't have to be one thing to embody a woman in a film. It just so happens she's a woman but she transcends gender. She's going to speak to men and women."[16] In an interview with Elle, Ridley would continue describing her character, "She's so strong. She's cool and smart and she can look after herself," adding "Young girls can look at her and know that they can wear trousers if they want to. That they don’t have to show off their bodies."[12]

Abrams stated that he intentionally withheld Rey's last name and background in The Force Awakens.[17] He said that he felt that the origin of Kylo Ren was the only thing that could be revealed in his movie and that he knows "quite a bit" about Rey's origin but would give courtesy to Star Wars: Episode VIII director Rian Johnson by not saying any more.[6][18] Star Wars: Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow has stated that the answer of Rey's origin will be "deeply and profoundly satisfying" and that Rey is "important in this universe, not just in the context of The Force Awakens, but in the entire galaxy. She deserves it."[19] Ridley said that she knows who Rey's parents are.[10]

Composer John Williams said that he immediately loved Daisy Ridley in the film and that he found composing Rey's theme an interesting challenge. He said that her theme doesn't suggest a love theme, but rather a strong female adventurer character infused with the Force for a mature, thoughtful theme.[20]

Appearances

The Force Awakens

Rey lives alone on the planet Jakku, scraping a living through scavenging parts from ships while awaiting the return of the family that she was separated from as a child. She rescues the astromech droid BB-8 and encounters the runaway stormtrooper Finn. Attacked by First Order troops, Rey steals and pilots the Millennium Falcon to evade them and escape Jakku. The smuggler Han Solo and his partner Chewbacca capture the Falcon in their freighter ship. When dangerous gangs confront Han on the freighter, Rey mistakenly unleashes Han's vicious cargo. She saves Finn and they escape the freighter in the Falcon. Han tells Rey that the legends of the Jedi were true. He gives her a blaster and tells her she has a lot yet to learn. Impressed with Rey, Han offers her a job on the Falcon; however, Rey declines his offer, feeling that she has to return to Jakku.

Model of Luke Skywalker's lightsaber on display at Star Wars Launch Bay at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

After convening at Maz Kanata's castle on the planet Takodana to return BB-8 to the Resistance, the First Order is alerted to their presence. Rey is disappointed when Finn leaves after explaining that he cannot continue onward with her. She is drawn to the castle's basement vault in which Maz has stored a lightsaber that belonged to Luke Skywalker and his father before him. Upon touching it, she experiences a terrifying vision: she sees a battle led by Kylo Ren, a flashback of her younger self being left behind on Jakku, and a vision of Luke, the missing last Jedi in the galaxy. Maz argues that whoever left her will never return to Jakku, and her only choice is to seek out strength in the Force. Feeling overwhelmed, Rey rejects the lightsaber and flees into the forest.

The First Order attacks Maz's castle, and Ren captures Rey when the Resistance arrives. Ren takes her to Starkiller Base, where he interrogates her mind for the map piece that BB-8 showed her of the location of Luke. Ren uses the Force to read Rey's mind, revealing Rey feels that Han is like the father she never had. Rey then resists him, reading Ren's emotions and exposing his inner fear that he will never be as powerful as Darth Vader. First Order Supreme Leader Snoke commands that Rey be brought to him when Ren reports to him about her resistance and ability. Left alone with a stormtrooper guarding her, Rey uses a Jedi mind trick to get him to help free her. After sneaking around inside the base looking for a way to escape, she is elated to find Finn, Han, and Chewbacca have come for her. They watch in horror as Ren kills his own father, Han.

As they try to escape the base through the forest, Ren challenges Rey and Finn with his lightsaber. After Ren seriously injures Finn and disarms him of Luke's lightsaber, Rey uses the Force to retrieve the weapon and battles the already wounded Ren. Initially overpowered, Rey rejects Ren's offer to train her and uses the Force with the lightsaber to defeat him. After escaping the destroyed planet in the Falcon with Chewbacca and the wounded Finn, she returns to the Resistance base. While the Resistance celebrates the victory, Rey mourns Han's death with Leia and visits Finn, who is still unconscious. She decides to seek out Luke's location, using information provided by BB-8 and the re-activated R2-D2. Rey, Chewbacca, and R2 travel in the Falcon to the oceanic planet of Ach-To; upon finding Luke, Rey presents him with his lost lightsaber.

Related works and merchandising

Rey is featured in Star Wars: Before the Awakening (2015) by Greg Rucka, an anthology book for young readers that focuses on the lives of Poe, Rey and Finn before the events of The Force Awakens.[21] Rey's Survival Guide (2015) by Jason Fry is a first-person account from Rey's perspective about herself and her home planet of Jakku.[22] Rey is also a point of view character in the 2015 novelization of The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster.[23]

The character of Rey appears in the video game Disney Infinity 3.0, voiced by Ridley.[24]

Fans noticed a lack of tie-in toys featuring Rey.[25] Hasbro released a version of Monopoly based on The Force Awakens that excluded the Rey character. After receiving criticism, Hasbro stated that they did not include Rey to avoid revealing spoilers, and would be including Rey in future toy releases.[26] Paul Southern, the head of Lucasfilm licensing, said that they wanted to protect the secrets that "the Force awakens in Rey" and that her character carries a Lightsaber.[27] He said that demand for Rey products was underestimated.[28][29] Abrams said, "I will say that it seems preposterous and wrong that the main character of the movie is not well represented in what is clearly a huge piece of the Star Wars world in terms of merchandising."[5] Regarding Rey's relative absence in Star Wars merchandising, CBBC presenter and voice actor Christopher Johnson stated: "It still baffles me to this day that some toy manufacturers don't think that girls want to play with 'superhero' toys and that boys aren't interested in female characters."[30]

Episode VIII

Rey is set to appear in Star Wars: Episode VIII, the sequel of The Force Awakens, with Ridley reprising her role.[31] Lucasfilm stated that "Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe, and Luke Skywalker" in the next film.

Character

Rey is introduced as a 19-year-old woman in The Force Awakens.[32] Rey is stubborn, headstrong, brave and maintains fierce loyalty to her friends. Some critics have noted similar backstories and personality traits between Rey and the two leading males of the original trilogy, Han and Luke, leading to speculation that she could share relation with the Skywalker-Solo family tree,[33][34] either being Luke Skywalker's daughter, or the daughter of Han Solo and Princess Leia. Fans have likewise speculated about Rey's descent.[35] In comparison to Luke, Matthew Yglesis of Vox notes that "Rey is considerably less callow than Luke."[36][37]

Megan Garber of The Atlantic notes that Rey "proves herself to be, in extremely short order, extremely adept as a fighter."[38] Rey is highly Force-sensitive, which is revealed when she is presented with the lightsaber first owned by Anakin Skywalker, then his son Luke Skywalker.[39] Without training she is able to use advanced Jedi abilities and even defeat Kylo Ren in a duel, though he was already injured.[40]

Adam Howard of MSNBC noted 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."[41] Relatedly, Emily Rome of HitFix claimed 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."[42] However, Rome went on to write "the speed with which Rey mastered Jedi mind tricks and lightsaber fighting with zero training is the stuff of fan fiction. Rey is geek feminist wish-fulfillment."[42] Tasha Robinson of The Verge noted that Rey "keeps falling into standard-issue damsel-in-distress situations, then capably rescuing herself."[43]

Reception

The character and Ridley's performance 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."[44] Richard Roeper described Ridley's portrayal of Rey as "a breakout performance," continuing by calling the character "tough and resourceful and smart and brave."[45] 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."[46]

Some fans expressed opinions that Rey is too skilled, despite her inexperience during The Force Awakens, making her a "Mary Sue"-type character.[47] Robinson concedes, "let's face it, Rey is kind of a Mary Sue character." However, Robinson goes on to write "She's a fantasy wish-fulfillment character with outsized skills, an inhuman reaction time, and a clever answer to every question—but so are the other major Star Wars heroes."[43] Other outlets have argued that the term carries an inherent gender bias,[48] and that categorizing Rey as a "Mary Sue" holds her to a double standard as the male characters from the original trilogy did not face comparable criticism.[49] Caroline Framke of Vox wrote "While my kneejerk reaction to criticism of Rey was that it's absolutely in the wrong, I have to admit that questioning her merits isn't inherently misogynistic. The real problem is that there's an undeniable false equivalence at play."[48]

Rey's unique hairstyle attracted attention before and after The Force Awakens was released,[50] being compared to Leia's hairdo during the original trilogy with debate over whether it would become as popular.[51]

Ridley was nominated for a 2016 Saturn Award for Best Actress for her portrayal.[52]

References

Citations

Sources

External links

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