Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in the new Star Wars installment "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," said her character "holds an important role" and that she will have an "impact in a girl-power-y way."
In a recent press conference with the film's director J.J. Abrams, Abrams' co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, and some of the major cast members of the new movie, Ridley said Rey would also be something of a girl-power figure.
One of the journalists at the press conference asked Ridley and Carrie Fisher, who plays Princess Leia in the original Star Wars films, to "talk about the girl power in the original trilogy and The Force Awakens."
This was Ridley's answer: "Pricess Leia, Carrie, is a source of inspiration for the past few years, and I'm definitely not quite there yet, but i hope Rey would be something of a girl-power figure, and I think with writing like JJ and Larry's and with the story in which she's woven into richly and holds an important role... and i guess there's no other way except to say she will have an impact in a girl-power-y way."
Ridley added that it was exciting to play Rey in the films because "she's brave and she's vulnerable and she's so nuanced... She doesn't have to be one thing, to embody a woman in a film, and for me, she's not important cause she's a woman, she's just important... and it just so happens that she's a woman. she transcends gender."
When Walmart accidentally leaked some Rey action figures a few days ago, and a Star Wars collector Justin Kozisek bought one and posted an image of the toy figure on social media, he received copyright violation notices from Facebook and Disney, an article on Fortune.com mentioned.
The article also further described the toy figure on the image posted: It features Rey wearing a tight-fitting version of her beige outfit with a sleeveless blazer-and holding a blue lightsaber, which some fan blogs declared a plot spoiler.
An article on RealtyToday.com mentioned that Abrams emphasized that although Princess Leia decided to run the rebellion, "she's still Force strong. It is something that is an intrinsic piece of her character." Abrams further stated that there were times in the previous Star Wars films where she demonstrated that she was Force strong.
Although we have not seen female Jedi Knights on the previous six films, it is not uncommon to see female Jedi in the Star Wars expanded universe.
So Rey could be a Jedi, and perhaps, her slight resemblance to Natalie Portman, who plays Amidala, wife of Anakin Skywalker in the three prequel films, could not just be a coincidence but an indication that she is a member of the Skywalker family.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will premiere on December 18.
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