Daisy Ridley has expressed shock at being labelled “intimidating” on the set of Chaos Walking.
The Stars Wars actress, 28, appears alongside Spider-Man star Tom Holland, 24, in Doug Liman’s big-screen adaptation of author Patrick Ness’s dystopian young adult novel series.
The feature, which is slated for a 2021 release, follows Todd Hewitt (Holland) as he discovers Viola (Ridley), a mysterious girl who crash lands on his planet, where all the women have disappeared.
Ridley recalled receiving the comment one day while she was having her character’s blonde wig fitted.
She also revealed one director she previously worked with had told her that her energy was “quite aggressive”.
Ridley told Tatler: “I’ve been told that I’m intimidating. That was on Chaos Walking. I was having my hair done, having my wig put on. I remember thinking, ‘God, should I be smaller? Should I be quieter?’
“I’ve been called aggressive, too. My energy is ‘quite aggressive’. That was during a meeting with a director.
“I was thinking: ‘But why? Is it because I maintained eye contact? Is it because I’m passionate about what we’re talking about?’ I dunno.
“You have that horrible sinking feeling of, ‘God, do I not come across the way I think I do?’”
The London-born actress, who appears on the cover of Tatler’s February issue, also spoke about the effects of achieving overnight fame with 2015’s The Force Awakens.
Speaking about wanting to keep some things private from the public, she said: “I don’t know. What I do know is that when I signed on to Star Wars, there was nothing in my contract that said: ‘Your life will be talked about’.”
Ridley added: “It got to the point where I realised so much of my life was out there. People knew my mum’s name, my dad’s name, what my sisters do for a living.
“And I thought it would be nice to have something that’s for me, that isn’t for everybody else. I just thought I would keep that separate.”
She also addressed her relationship with her Star War co-star John Boyega, who has gone on to become a prominent voice in the UK’s Black Lives Matter movement.
Ridley said: “We are only a month apart in age and we always had each other in that. John had worked more than I had. Totally different upbringing. But there we were together. I never felt like I was doing it alone.”
See the full feature in the February issue of Tatler available on Monday January 4.
