'Star Wars' fans blame J.J. Abrams after Daisy Ridley reveals alternate plot line for 'The Rise of Skywalker'
The actress wasn't sure who her character truly was until filming was already underway
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Star Wars” actress Daisy Ridley stirred up some debate among fans when she revealed during a recent interview that the parentage of her character, Rey, was a mystery to even her until filming was already underway.
For those unfamiliar, Rey led the trilogy that began with “The Force Awakens” in 2015 and concluded with “The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019. Throughout the trilogy, the identity of her character’s parents remained a big mystery. The third movie, however, finally revealed that [SPOILER ALERT] Rey was the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, which puzzled many fans.
Speaking during a recent appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” with guest host Josh Gad, Ridley explained that director J.J. Abrams, who helmed the first movie in the trilogy before giving the director’s chair to Rain Johnson for the fan-maligned “Last Jedi,” was still toying with alternate ideas for the mystery until halfway through filming the final installment.
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This image released by Disney/Lucasfilm shows Daisy Ridley as Rey in a scene from "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." (Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.)
“At the beginning, there was toying with, like, an Obi-Wan connection and then it really went… There were, like, different versions and then it really went to like, she was no one,” the actress explained.
“Then it came to ‘Episode 9’ and J.J. pitched me the film and was like ‘Oh yeah, Palpatine’s granddaughter.’ And I was like ‘Oh awesome.” And then, two weeks later, he was like, ‘Oh we’re not sure.’ So it kept changing,” she explained.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The actress concluded: “Even when I was filming, I wasn’t sure what the answer was going to be.”
Many fans who caught the interview were quick to blame Abrams for their displeasure over how the "Skywalker Saga" ended.
"Daisy ridley sparking up this rey kenobi thing just once again makes me wonder why did JJ bother coming back to do episode 9 if he knows he’s not good with endings. Disney had to have held his family at gunpoint or something," one user wrote on Twitter about the revelation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"No hate to daisy Ridley but this interview just clearly shows how incompetent JJ is at telling a coherent story," another user noted.
"daisy ridley just cheerfully saying "yeah jj abrams didn't even decide on the plot of his franchise ender until filming was well underway" is right there with "game of thrones writers admit they had no writers' room" in the Ok Yeah That Tracks department," someone else wrote.
Meanwhile, others felt this let Rain Johnson off the hook.
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"People keep saying the Sequel Trilogy fell apart because of JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson’s conflicting visions, but here’s the truth: Rian Johnson had a vision with substance, while JJ had one without. And the one who concluded the story was the guy with an empty roadmap," one user wrote.
"Daisy Ridley? exposing JJ for being a disorganized fool? we love to see it," someone else wrote.
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“This is about bringing this thing to a close in a way that is emotional and meaningful and also satisfying in terms of actually answering [as many] questions as possible,” Abrams told Entertainment Weekly of the ending prior to the final film's premiere. “So if years from now, someone’s watching these movies, all nine of them, they’re watching a story that is as cohesive as possible.”