Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley responds to Rise of Skywalker backlash: ‘Where has the love gone?’

Franchise star avoided Star Wars news after film came out

Daisy Ridley has responded to the “tricky” reception received by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker a few months ago.

The actor, who portrayed Rey, was asked on the DragCast podcast how she felt stepping into such an established franchise with a strong, often opinionated fan base.

“It’s changed film by film, honestly. Ninety-eight per cent, it’s so amazing. This last film, it was really tricky,” she said.

“January was not that nice. It was weird. I felt like all of this love we’d been shown the first time around – I was like, ‘Where’s the love gone?’”

She added: “I think it’s a tricky thing when you’re part of something that’s so filled with love, and then people – everyone’s entitled to not like something.

“But it feels – I don’t know, it feels like it’s changed slightly, but I think in general that’s because of social media and what have you.”

Ridley explained that in January, she found herself scrolling down her news feed trying to avoid Star Wars news, because some headlines were “so upsetting”.

While she found some reactions to the film “tricky”, the actor remains “thrilled” and “proud” to have been a part of the franchise.

The Rise of Skywalker was released in December 2019, bringing to an end the Star Wars sequel trilogy, as well as the nine-part Skywalker saga.

The Independent gave it a three-star review, deeming it ”a packed film” and ”gleefully chaotic”.