biography of Daisy Ridley

Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley 

(born 10 April 1992) is an English actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

She appeared in the mystery film Murder on the Orient Express (2017), played the title character of the romantic drama Ophelia (2018), and had voice roles in the animated film Peter Rabbit (2018) and the video game Twelve Minutes (2021). Ridley had leading roles in the science-fiction film Chaos Walking (2021), independent drama Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023), and psychological thriller The Marsh King's Daughter (2023). She also portrayed Gertrude Ederle in the biographical drama Young Woman and the Sea (2024). 

Ridley was born on 10 April 1992 in the London borough of Westminster, and grew up in Maida Vale. She is the youngest of three daughters born to Christopher Ridley, a photographer, and Louise (née Fawkner-Corbett), who works in internal communications for a bank.^[3][4][5] She has two older sisters, Kika Rose and Poppy Sophia, as well as two older half-sisters Her mother's family, the Fawkner-Corbetts, were landed gentry with a military and medical background.  Her paternal great-uncle, Arnold Ridley, served in the military as well.  He separately forged a career as a playwright and actor (and is best remembered for playing Private Godfrey in the sitcom Dad's Army). Arnold Ridley's brother, Daisy's grandfather, John Harry Dunn Ridley, OBE, was head of the Engineering Secretariat at the BBC from 1950 to 1965 

Ridley has stated that while growing up, her favourite film was Matilda (1996), referring to the titular character (played by Mara Wilson) as a role model.  While not a particularly strong Star Wars fan as a youth, she dedicatedly followed the Harry Potter series. 

Ridley won a scholarship to Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, which she attended from ages nine to eighteen She then studied classical civilisation at Birkbeck, University of London, before dropping out to focus on her acting career. Prior to being cast in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ridley worked for nearly two years as a bartender at two different pubs in London. In 2016, she began studying for a Bachelor of Arts in social science through online courses with the Open University

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.^[28] 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, the casting of Ridley as Rey, one of the lead characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was announced  She was cast 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' 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.^[34][35] With international revenues of over $2 billion, The Force Awakens was a major box-office hit and the highest-grossing film of 2015. Her performance received critical acclaim, with Richard Roeper describing her portrayal as "a breakout performance" and adding "[Harrison] Ford has a terrific father figure chemistry [shared] with Ridley and [John] Boyega"

In October 2021, Ridley had signed on for a sci-fi mystery thriller film called Mind Fall with Mathieu Kassovitz attached to direct. 

On 7 April 2023, it was revealed at Star Wars Celebration that Ridley would reprise her role as Rey in an upcoming untitled Star Wars film directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy with Ridley appearing on stage 

In March 2025, it was announced that Ridley would star alongside Alden Ehrenreich in the upcoming romantic comedy The Last Resort, directed by Donald Petrie. Production is set to begin in April

Ridley resides in Primrose Hill, London. Since 2017, she has been in a relationship with actor Tom Bateman, whom she met on the set of Murder on the Orient Express. In January 2023, during the Sundance Film Festival, Ridley confirmed that she and Bateman had married. 

In 2016, Ridley revealed she had been diagnosed with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome at age fifteen, requiring her to undergo multiple laparoscopic surgery procedures. She states that her condition left her feeling low in self-confidence due to acne which followed.  In 2023, Ridley was diagnosed with Graves' disease, which gave her a racing heart rate, weight loss, and fatigue, among other symptoms.

Following the 2016 Teen Choice Awards, which paid tribute to victims of gun violence, Ridley posted on both Instagram and Facebook an anti-gun violence message. Her post prompted backlash from the public, with critics accusing Ridley of hypocrisy in reference to the violence depicted in her Star Wars films.  Because of this, she deleted her social media accounts,  but briefly returned to Instagram, claiming the reason for the deletion was because she had "a busy few months ahead [and] so wanted less distractions".  She reiterated this statement in 2017, saying that social media is "highly unhealthy for people's mental health," including hers.  Ridley further commented on the topic in a 2019 interview, vowing never to return to social media. She said:I honestly think now with social media and stuff...it's great to have freedom of expression, but I do feel like people think opinions have so much weight... I don't really think bad vibes should have the sun shone on them. [...] It's dangerous. [...] It's great in that respect for people who are in serious and dire situations to be able to be communicating, but for the most part I think — no, no, no.