Daisy Ridley is returning to TV in a reimagining of the classic story Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, but how much do you know about the English actress?
Daisy Ridley, best known for playing Rey Skywalker in the Star Wars series, has been confirmed as returning to TV in a leading role in the reimagining of the classic story Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, which is in development for Paramount+.
In addition, Daisy is on board as an executive producer for the show, which is currently being written, according to Deadline.
Daisy will play Lee Crane in the show, a brilliant ocean scientist who joins a classified government program after an Arctic expedition goes tragically wrong and sees her twin sister killed.
A key part of the program is a retro-futurist submarine, the USS Seaview, which is found entombed in ice, marked with mysterious symbols. The mystery deepens when it is discovered that the submarine only powers up when Lee steps aboard. Commanding a crew, Lee leads dangerous undersea missions to uncover hidden truths about the world.
With Daisy attached to the project, it is sure to generate substantial interest. But how much do you know about Daisy Ridley? Here are some facts you might not know.
She comes from an acting family
Daisy comes from a family with a history of acting. While her parents aren’t in the business – her father is a photographer, her mother worked in a bank – her great uncle starred in one of the most famous sitcoms in UK TV history. Arnold Ridley, who was also a playwright, played Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army.
Daisy worked other jobs before getting her big break
While Daisy had an interest in acting from a young age and attended a performing arts school from the ages of nine to 18, it did take some time before she got her big acting break.
While she did pick up acting work, with small roles in shows such as medical drama Casualty and comedy Toast of London – she took other jobs to make ends meet. Her jobs included bartending in pubs in London, and working in a shopping mall as an elf during Christmas season.
However, the wait was worth it when she landed the role of Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2014.
She learnt to shoot right-handed for her Star Wars role
For her role as Rey, Daisy had to undertake significant training. First, she undertook a fitness regime – although she couldn’t tell anyone outside her immediate family why, so she said it was for an audition.
Then she was trained to fight with a lightsaber – stunt trainers praised Daisy for how quickly she could pick up complex series of movements. In one instance, a sequence that would usually take three days to learn, she nailed in just 90 minutes.
Amongst this, Daisy, while being left-handed, also learnt to fight right-handed.
She has been open about her health issues
Daisy has been open about being diagnosed with conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome as a teenager – something she has had multiple surgical procedures for.
She has also been diagnosed with Graves’ disease – symptoms of which include racing heart rate and fatigue – and took up a gluten-free diet as a result.
She met her husband on the set of a movie
Daisy has been married to fellow actor Tom Bateman since about 2023 – she only confirmed the news in January 2023 at the Sundance Film Festival.
However, they had been in a relationship since 2017, having met on the set of the movie Murder on the Orient Express where they were both part of the ensemble cast.
