Daisy Ridley addresses the criticisms of Rey as a Mary Sue on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, saying the term itself is “sexist” and noting that Luke Skywalker had many of the same abilities.
She also said that Kelly Marie Tran’s role in VIII is “crucial” and discusses how it’s different working with Mark Hamill than it was Harrison Ford. Her interview starts at about 48 minutes in on the podcast.