Daisy Ridley is no stranger to taking on high-pressure roles. Look no further than her portrayal of Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The hype and expectation for those movies was off the scale. The role instantly made Ridley one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood, and she's already confirmed to make a big screen return to the galaxy far, far away. But what about a foray into the iconic Wizarding World?
With HBO making a Harry Potter series, names are beginning to surface; just lately, we heard that John Lithgow is in talks to play Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And while Daisy Ridley isn't linked with any role, the fact that she's a big, British actress is enough for fans to wonder if she'd like to get involved.
Ridley herself, however, has dismissed any notion of her joining the rebooted Wizarding World. As a huge fan of the original Harry Potter movies, the idea of joining the new series is simply too much pressure. "I haven’t asked to be a part of it because, honestly, I am so… Those performances are so phenomenal that I feel it would be so terrifying to take on one of those roles," she said during a Q&A event of her new movie Cleaner, per Screen Rant.
HBO is making a 10-year commitment to the Harry Potter show, intending to faithfully adapt all seven books. "Just, I mean… a huge commitment of time, but really it’s just, I just love the films. I love the performances," Ridley said. "And I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do with them, because they will clearly be so different. But, oh my God, the pressure would be so high."
Currently, no casting has been announced for the upcoming Harry Potter series. The casting process has been immense, with over 30,000 children reportedly vying to become the next Harry, Ron and Hermione. The series is slated to begin filming later this year. Will you be watching?
Daisy Ridley on the politics of the Star Wars movies
So the Harry Potter franchise is out for Ridley, but she is slated to return to the Star Wars universe in a new movie all about Rey, her character from the sequel trilogy. That movie has gone through some shake-ups behind the scenes, with The Bourne Ultimatum writer George Nolfi being the latest to come on board and try and whip it into shape. “If you think about George Lucas, the six movies that he did, and the universe that he created, it’s actually very steeped in broad notions of politics,” Nolfi recently told Film Stories. “It’s not talking about today, per se, but there’s the Empire’s Nazism slash Roman Empire.”
Speaking to Inverse, Ridley agreed with that outlook. “I feel like [the Star Wars films] are all political," she said. "I feel like it's the individual versus the big corporation or the big group, so I think they always have been. And ultimately I think the films are emotional in that it's good and evil, which we all can relate to very specifically in our day-to-day lives. But yes, I do feel those conversations are woven within the story, and I'm very excited to see what George does. Those conversations are woven within the story, and I'm very excited to see what George does.”
There's no release date yet set for the Rey movie, nor for the Harry Potter show, but we'll keep our ears to the ground.
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