Daisy Ridley is taking on an action-packed role in Cleaner later this month, and she had to thank Tom Cruise for inspiring her performance. The Star Wars star plays Joey Locke, a highly-trained military veteran now working as a window cleaner on a high-rise skyscraper in London. In an interview with ComicBook, Ridley admitted that this was a challenge because she personally doesn’t care for heights — though her character is fine with them. She said she had to face this fear head on throughout filming, and to do so, she thought of Tom Cruise’s infamous stunt performances and tried to channel his bravery.
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“No, I actually really don’t like heights,” Ridley said with a laugh. “It’s funny, because I did Young Woman and the Sea, and I really don’t like the open water, and it was just another thing where I thought, ‘I’ve made the decision, because I really want to do the film.’ But the reality is, both characters are facing things I really don’t like.”
“It was weird, because I got so used to being on the side of the building,” Ridely went on. “The moment where Joey steps out at the beginning of her work day, and she goes over the edge of the building — that was so scary, I feel like if anyone could hear the roll before I step over, it would be me going, ‘OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD.’ That was absolutely terrifying, and I often think about Tom Cruise jumping off buildings, just thinking, ‘How do you do that?!’ But, yeah, I had to swallow the nerves.”
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Cleaner is an action thriller with a bit of a Die Hard set-up — the building Joey works at is hosting an annual gala for an energy company, which is taken over by a group of activists. A small, more radical group among the activists take things even further, threatening to blow up the building if police intervene with their demonstration. The attendees all become hostages, including Joey’s brother. Joey, who was dishonorably discharged from the military, now tries to end the stand-off single-handedly without triggering an explosion.
The trailer alone shows just how much Ridley had to face her fear of heights. The movie was written by Simon Uttley, Paul Andrew Williams, and Matthew Orton, and directed by Martin Campbell. It will hit theaters in the U.S. on Friday, February 21st. Tickets are on sale now.
