Daisy Ridley's Rey (no last name given) carries on a long tradition of badass pilots in the Star Wars universe. In The Force Awakens, she proved herself incredibly capable of handling the iconic Millennium Falcon, even to the point that she eventually inherited the ship from the late Han Solo (Harrison Ford). However, in real life, the 25-year-old actress was not quite as advanced behind the wheel, and she recently revealed that she illegally drove around the set of The Force Awakens before receiving her license. Ridley addressed these shenanigans while promoting the release of The Last Jedi on Good Morning America and said:
Well, yeah, I did my theory test for driving and I was driving around in a buggy a lot of the time. Which actually was illegal to do--maybe I shouldn't say that! They kept telling me to stop and I was like, 'Hey, oh.'
So, at that point in the production of The Force Awakens, it seems that Daisy Ridley had already taken her written test to acquire a driver's license. However, she had not yet completed the process of becoming a fully-licensed driver, so getting behind the wheel of a buggy on the set was a big no-no. Alas, the actress threw caution to the wind and drove around against the wishes of everyone around her. On the other hand, The Force Awakens was her big star-making turn as an actress, so I can't blame her for getting a bit overexcited during production.
It's also worth pointing out the fact that The Force Awakens filmed on some reasonably unforgiving terrain. From the dunes of Jakku to the dense forests of Takodana, J.J. Abrams took his case and crew to quite a few real locations for its practical sets. Even Rey made her own makeshift sled to get down the hills on her desert planet, so we can only assume that Daisy Ridley wouldn't want to walk anywhere if there was a buggy available.
Despite Daisy Ridley's confession during her appearance on Good Morning America (via ABC News), her actions apparently weren't too illegal to bring her back for the sequel. That said, it is worth wondering how long she will stick around in the Star Wars universe. In fact, the actress recently addressed these questions and explained that she does not see herself returning as Rey beyond the events of 2019's Episode IX -- which will reunite her with director J.J. Abrams following the departure of Colin Trevorrow from the project. Now we will just have to wait and see if anyone will hand her the keys to a buggy for her final outing.
Daisy Ridley will make her next appearance as Rey in the Star Wars universe when Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi debuts in theaters on December 15. Tickets for the film are now available, so make sure to pick yours up now and start getting ready for the next awesome adventure in the galaxy far, far away!
