Now, Daisy Ridley is synonymous with the name "Rey," but it was almost Iron Fist's Jessica Henwick who got the part. Henwick went through a grueling, six-month audition process for the role of the Star Wars heroine, which she “desperately” wanted.
Henwick told The Hollywood Reporter, “Oh my God, dude. That was f**king six months. That was a long one. I was auditioning for a different character, actually, so I spent six months auditioning for that character." Although she didn't land the part of Rey, she did get another role in Star Wars. Henwick said, “And then, at the end, J.J. said, ‘I want you to be in the film, but I want to write a character for you.’ That’s how Jess Pava was created.”
According to Henwick, the longevity of the process took a mental toll on her. She said, "so, it was a very, very long experience. It’s hard because I’ve been doing this long enough to know that you go in, audition, put it to the back of your mind, don’t think about it and don’t get emotionally invested. But, after six months, you can’t help but just desperately want it. I’m also such a big J.J. fan. So, I was a mess at the end of those six months."
The 27-year-old would go on to play Jessika Pava, a young Resistance pilot who flew alongside Poe Dameron during the attack on Starkiller Base. The character also appeared in the comic book series Star Wars: Poe Dameron. She was the first-ever female X-wing pilot to appear on-screen.
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong' o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film is now in theaters.