Star Wars: Daisy Ridley On The Difference Between Rian Johnson and J.J. Abrams

Much like the original Star Wars trilogy, this new trilogy of Star Wars films that focus on Rey, Finn and Poe features different directors giving their takes on the galaxy far, far away. Despite the change in leadership, star Daisy Ridley appreciated what both The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams and The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson brought to their respective films, with their demeanors being the biggest difference.

“The energy of [The Last Jedi] is more relaxed, ’cause J.J.’s like ‘ding ding ding’ and energy forward and Rian’s just, he’s weirdly calm,” Ridley confessed to ComicBook.com. “It’s just nice having different energies giving different spins. In terms of the film, it’s just new stuff. Like J.J., I think, teamed old with the new very, very well . Ryan’s just teaming the old with the new and the new is just different and hopefully people will like that.”

Entering the Star Wars saga can be an intimidating task for any actor, especially for someone like Daisy Ridley, as it was one of her first big roles. The actress recently shared that Abrams was quite candid with her after witnessing her first scenes in the saga.

“After the first take, he goes, ‘Just a bit… wooden,’ and then we carried on,” Ridley confirmed with Elle. “But J.J. is the kind of person who before a scene says, ‘Don’t f*ck it up.’ So he said, ‘Just a bit wooden,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ But it got better.”

The scene in question involved Rey dismounting from her speeder while on Jakku, which might not have given her much opportunity to showcase her skills. Given the frankness of Abrams’ direction, his comments could seem quite negative, but Ridley assures that wasn’t entirely the case.

“It’s only because that word ‘wooden’ is so loaded. But it was just tense,” the actress pointed out. “And I thought, ‘OK, loosen that sh*t right up and it’ll get better.’”

One of the benefits of having multiple directors is it can result in all-new perspectives, with Johnson confirming his film won’t mimic other installments in the franchise.

“It’s very interesting, the idea of the inescapable draw of nostalgia, because it’s there and it’s impossible to deny the emotional reaction that I have walking onto the interior of the Falcon,” Johnson told SciFiNow Magazine. “I guess I’d be hesitant to use the word ‘homage’ because that makes it sound like it’s just kind of turning the crank and replaying an old tune because we all like it. But telling a story that brings new things and pushes everything forward in an interesting way, that is in this world that we all recognise, there’s something very powerful about that.”

Fans can see Johnson’s vision when The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15.