Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
It takes a lot of star power to top Dame Judy Dench, so Josh Gad has assembled an all-star cast for his final (hopefully) Daisy Ridley question session on The Last Jedi secrets, including Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow, Leslie Odom, Jr., Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Penelope Cruz and more.
Josh Gad followed up with Daisy Ridley on his The Last Jedi “sneak attack.” With another sneak attack. But the real kicker here is the third video, which features Dame Judi Dench asking “What’s the deal with Reylo?” If only we knew, Dame Judi. (Okay, I kid: It’s a pretty typical ship, even if it does give some of us the willies.)
Remember that rumor that Dench would be playing Mon Mothma in The Force Awakens? And then remember how Genevieve O’Reilly actually showed up in a Rogue One trailer with none of us even hearing a hint of it beforehand? Gotta wonder if some major wire crossing happened in the rumor streams. Ahh, memories.
Also in The Last Jedi news…
→ In yesterday’s Disney earning call (which also gave us the Star Wars land dates) CEO Bob Iger admitted to seeing a cut of The Last Jedi. “It’s a great next chapter in the Skywalker family saga,” he said. (Of course.)
→ A pre-title reveal interview with Rian Johnson, and a post-reveal one with Mark Hamill.
Josh Gad tries to get Daisy Ridley to give him something on The Last Jedi. Spoiler: He does not succeed, even with a Frozen 2 fact.
Both actors are currently filming Murder on the Orient Express.
There’s been a lot of great interviews and insight to come out of the Rogue One junket, but this is by far my favorite.
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.
Making Star Wars has word of a new type of stormtrooper who’ll (reportedly) appear in Episode VIII, as well as some small changes on the standard troopers.
→ This Daisy Ridley interview with Vulture has been making the rounds, mainly because she says we’ll see the answer to Rey’s parentage question “in a year,” and, well, the internet.
→ Speaking of Rey’s parentage, there’s a bonkers but just crazy enough to maybe theory over at Force Material. It’s based on a “paranoid ‘70s conspiracy thriller” and hell, it still makes more sense than Snoke being Plagueis or any of the other bullshit we’ve had to put up with. But mostly, it amused me, and how often do fan theories manage that? (Not often.)
→ Your moment of zen: Mark Hamill and his VIII beard have a fashion gig.
Daisy Ridley is on the red carpet again, this time for the documentary The Eagle Huntress, which she narrates and executive produced. Yahoo asked her about Rogue One’s Felicity Jones, and she revealed a bit of what they’ve discussed. And yeah, she deflects that whole tired ‘could Jyn be Rey’s mom?!?’ thing again.
Daisy Ridley discussed her reasons for leaving Instagram this week, saying she had a “lot of growing up to do” and that it was an “extra pressure.”
Ridley deleted her Instagram in July amid harassment over an anti-gun violence message. She currently only has an official Facebook page.
Daisy Ridley appeared on the comedy podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno and dropped a few vague comments about Episode VIII.
First of all, don’t expect the title for some time:
I heard a title, but I don’t know if it’s going to be that. I really don’t know much about anything. I heard it, but I heard it a long time ago, before we started filming. So I feel some things have tweaked slightly during production. It’s going to be a while before it’s released, I imagine.
Pablo Hidalgo told us back in July that the film doesn’t have a title yet, so it seems likely they have options to consider or some firm ideas, but nothing quite set in stone yet. The Force Awakens, as the first live-action film in a decade, was an outlier in a lot of things. VIII announcements aren’t – and don’t need to be – on the same schedule, particularly with Rogue One coming up.
(And remember, TFA had the title Shadow of the Empire at one point.)
Daisy also said that Rey “maybe” gets a new outfit. Romance also got a “maybe,” but she went as far as to say:
The thing is, I read this article the other day. It was talking about being in love with your friends and how like, that is the ultimate thing. So I think romance covers a lot of bases.”
The Star Wars stuff comes on at the end of the podcast, beginning at about the 25:00 mark. (If the site audio doesn’t work for you, it is on iTunes.)
Daisy Ridley shuts down her Instagram. She deleted her account on the social photo site after receiving harassment over an anti-violence message. Ridley has previously deleted both her Twitter and Instagram, though only the Instagram returned.