Daisy Ridley Confirms Rey’s Original Name In ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’
In a small but interesting bit of information,Daisy Ridley, star ofStar Wars: The Force AwakensandStar Wars: The Last Jedi, recently confirmed theoriginalname of her character Rey. We’ve actually heard this early name before, but up until now it was thought to just be a placeholder or codename until the real name was finalized. Ridley’s recent statements seem to change that. Learn the shocking truth (okay, it’s not really that shocking) behind Rey’s original name!
We don’t knowtoomuch about the impendingStar Wars: The Last Jedi, so anyStar Wars-related info we can get until that film hits next month is worth obsessing over. Case in point: a recent interview with super-charmingStar Warsstar Daisy Ridley confirms for us the original name of Rey. In a new interview inVMagazine(viaCinema Blend) between Ridley and herThe Last Jedico-starAdam Driver, Ridley confirmed that the initial name for her character was Keera:
DRIVER:What were your initial conversations with J.J. [Abrams] about your character? Did you know the character’s name was Rey?
RIDLEY:No, no, he told me it was meant to be Keera. And then, when we were already shooting in Abu Dhabi, he told me that he was thinking of going with Rey, which I thought was frickin' awesome. But because I had to audition so much and everything, I never really had a conversation with J.J. about it until I had read the script. So, I had no sense of what I was getting into. No sense of what was really going to happen or what anything would entail. I hadn’t done a film before, so it was a whole new thing. It’s such a crazy thing the first time around: Even if [J.J. and I] had had a conversation about it, nothing would’ve even made sense at that point anyway. It was unfolding as we went along.
This isn’t the first time Rey’s alternate name has come up. Previously, however, reports had it spelled as “Kira.” BeforeThe Force Awakensbegan filming, screenwriterMichael Arndtdescribed “Kira” as a “loner, hothead, gear-head, badass.” However, the common assumption was that this was more of a codename, all part of the very extreme anti-spoiler measures Disney employs in making these films. There was also arumor that Kira was Rey’srealname, and that Rey was a name given to the character to protect her and keep her identity secret when she was dropped off on Jakku. Ridley’s statement seems to suggest otherwise.
Kira is apparently a popular name in theStar Warsuniverse. In the upcomingStar WarsAnthologyfilmSolo: A Star Wars Story,Emilia Clarke’s characteris (supposedly) named Kira. Unless it isn’t. There’salsoaHouse of Kirathat’s part of the extendedStar Warsuniverse. What could all of this mean? Probably nothing, but we need to keep ourselves busy untilStar Wars: The Last Jedihits theaters onDecember 15, 2017.
