How Kathleen Kennedy Tricked Rey Actress Into Doing New ‘Star Wars’ Movie

Sometimes, you have to lie to tell the truth — or, in Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s case, get franchise veteran Daisy Ridley to reprise her role in an upcoming Star Wars film.

Related: Fans Think Adam Driver Is Lying About Not Returning to ‘Star Wars’

During April’s Star Wars Celebration Europe, three new films set in George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away were announced: James Mangold’s untitled Dawn of the Jedi project, Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni’s “Mando-Verse” crossover event, and perhaps most buzz-worthy of all, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey film, which will supposedly pick up 15 years after the events of the divisive Sequel Trilogy.

It goes without saying that the Sequel Trilogy — consisting of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) — didn’t exactly sit well with much of the fanbase, leading some to question why Ridley’s Rey was getting her very own movie. Its director, Obaid-Chinoy, also raised eyebrows earlier this month due to some controversial statements she made about women shaping the Star Wars universe, meaning the project isn’t entirely off to a good start, publicity-wise.

Related: New Information Comes To Light About ‘Star Wars’ After Lucasfilm Changes ‘The Mandalorian’ Forever

Although plot specifics remain unknown, rumors have run rampant online about the untitled Rey film, with the consensus being that the titular Jedi will create a new academy for Force users, applying her own learnings from Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Until Lucasfilm releases an official synopsis, however, all we can do is speculate. Until then, Ridley is sharing some new insights into how the project came about, telling AlloCiné everything she knows about the upcoming Star Wars movie and confirming the story was enough to convince her to return as Rey.

Hilariously enough, it sounds like Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy was pretty sneaky about pitching the “New Jedi Order” movie to Ridley, who, instead of mentioning the project straight away, invited the actress to breakfast. “That was actually quite last minute,” Ridley said of her casting. “I was actually making my own film last year, and Kathy Kennedy said she wanted to have breakfast. And I thought we were just having breakfast. So there I was, having my breakfast, and she goes, ‘Oh, by the way, we might do another one.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay…'”

After turning it over in her head for a bit, Ridley agreed to sign onto the film, explaining, “Once I knew what the story was and everything, I knew it was something I really wanted to do. I think it’s a really fantastic exploration of the ‘Star Wars’ world. It’s a really cool way of taking the story on in a bit of a different direction.”

It sounds like Ridley certainly has some high praise for the story, but how close are we to actually seeing Rey’s highly-anticipated return to the big screen? Well, last week, it was reported that screenwriter Steven Knight’s first draft still hasn’t been handed into Lucasfilm and that there’s a chance the studio will now seek someone else for rewrites. With so little progress being made on the project, odds are, it won’t premiere until 2026 at the earliest.

This new update on Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey movie comes amid some exciting news on the Mando/Disney+ front, as Lucasfilm announced director Jon Favreau’s upcoming “Mando-Verse” movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu, earlier this week, which will reportedly go into production later this year. This puts Grogu and Din Djarin’s (Pedro Pascal) next big adventure ahead of the “New Jedi Order” film and long before Filoni’s “Mando-Verse” crossover, with Mangold’s project likely to arrive last.

Ultimately, it’s hard to say if Ridley took much convincing on Kennedy’s part. Because really, who would say no to leading a Star Wars film? And from the sounds of it, even the most intense Sequel Trilogy naysayers might be surprised by Rey’s first solo outing. Considering that the story will take us the furthest we’ve been beyond the Skywalker Saga in canon Star Wars, hopefully, it will address many of the loose plot threads left over from Rise of Skywalker while also introducing some new faces to the mix.

Here’s hoping Daisy Ridley got to enjoy her breakfast, at the very least.

Are you hopeful for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey movie, or are you expecting to be disappointed? Share your thoughts in the comments below!