Daisy Ridley Hints Rey's Parents Will Be Revealed in Star Wars: Episode VIII

If there is one question Star Wars fans have wrestled with the most ever since the "Skywalker lightsaber" called out to Rey, the question is: who the heck are Rey's parents? The enigmatic character played by Daisy Ridley in Star Wars: The Force Awakens has a clear affinity to the Force and may be the light side "new hope" that the galaxy far, far away needs, but is she related to one (or more) of the other famous characters in that world?

According to the actress, it sounds like we'll find out in Star Wars: Episode VIII, the still unofficially titled direct sequel to that film that hits theaters in December 2017. That movie is already wrapped on filming and in post-production with writer/director Rian Johnson no doubt hard at work in the edit bay, but hopefully he won't be leaving this reveal on the cutting room floor.

"We will see in a year," Ridley told Vulture when they asked her about Rey's lineage in a recent interview. "Just sit tight on that question."

Ridley was specifically asked if Rey might have a direct relation to Obi-Wan Kenobi. It's a popular theory thanks to Kenobi's longtime possession of the lightsaber that once belonged to Anakin Skywalker, then for a short time to Luke Skywalker, and because when the Force awakened (ohhhh now we get the title) in her, she heard Obi-Wan's voice say, "Rey? These are the first steps." The inflection in "Rey?" especially made many fans think that Obi-Wan not only recognizes a new major player in the Force, but specifically knows who she is.

As for that other question she keeps getting, the one about Jyn Erso being possibly related to Rey as her mother (just because they're both caucasian brunettes with accents, apparently), Ridley said that "historically it wouldn't work... she would ultimately be my grandma," she said, trying to figure out the timing. Indeed, since Ridley does apparently know who Rey's parents are, the way she stuttered around that particular question trying not to just say, "No, it's not her, I know who it is," is all the answer fans should need to stop asking that particular question.

Star Wars: Episode VIII continues the "Skywalker Saga," as Lucasfilm calls it, making history as the first Star Wars film ever that will pick up directly where the previous one left off. The start of Episode VIII will show Rey coming up the worn out steps at the island world of Ahch-to, the legendary site of the first Jedi Temple that Luke Skywalker has placed himself under exile upon, reaching out to Luke with his (and his father's) old lightsaber. The story will also continue the tale of the younger generation like Poe Dameron, Finn the renegade stormtrooper, Kylo Ren (aka Ben Solo, Leia and Han's son who is trying his hardest to turn fully to the dark side), as well as show how longtime characters like Leia and Chewbacca move forward after Han's tragic death in The Force Awakens. It hits theaters December 15, 2017, a year after Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a standalone film that takes place in the past, hits on December 16, 2016.