DAISY RIDLEY

I liked 'Star Wars,' but I wasn't an uberfan like many people are.

It's one thing for other people to see potential in you, and it's quite another for you to understand that and see it in yourself.

It became my solace. Because it's the only thing structured in my life right now. Training is sort of a therapy session, I guess.

Both my parents are creative. My dad did act when he was younger, but they're both very creative.

Goals are ever-changing. I didn't set out to be in a 'Star Wars' film but now I've been in one.

Rey is so strong. She's cool and smart and she can look after herself. Young girls can look at her and know that they can wear trousers if they want to. That they don't have to show off their bodies.

Maybe I should pretend like I'm not insecure, but I really am. This movie is going to come out and... will people like it? Will they like Rey?

I can tell you that Rey is an incredibly brave young woman who starts off alone and encounters Finn, and they go on an amazing adventure, and she makes relationships she never could have imagined, and she sees things she never could have imagined.

What we've seen of Rey, she looks like she can handle her stuff. So most of the comments I get are from parents who say how wonderful it is that their little girls can see this character.

I was kind of loathe to go on social media. I find the trolling unacceptable, and I never wanted to look like I was someone who would accept that.

Carey Mulligan and Felicity Jones are two of my favorites. I'm not so much younger than them. I like that. It's kind of aspirational.

I auditioned for this agency. I got an advertisement first, and then something else, which I got fired from. It was soul-destroying. And then the next thing I got, I thought was going to be my big break, and they cut the role. It was only the year that I started auditioning for 'Star Wars' when I really started getting roles.

I've never been one for crushing on famous people.

Sadly, people think a guy and a girl can't be friends without something romantic going on.

I actually wanted to be a zookeeper when I was 5.

I love Felicity Jones. It was funny because I went to go see the 'Rogue One' set, and I was like, 'Oh my God, I love you.' And she's so tiny, and elegant, and she's just so small. Everyone's so much smaller than they seem.

I went to a school called Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. I went because initially I was very naughty, and my mom thought if I was busy, I'd be better. And I didn't really do acting until later on in the school, with an amazing teacher. I left, went traveling, came back.

I love to come to L.A. to visit, and then I like to come to rainy old London because it's home.

I was actually sacked from my first job. It was at a workshop for a short film this poet had written, about when she used to work in a strip club. After the first week, I was told not to come back.

I don't know if I can prepare for what's to come because I don't know what will.

Your life goes on, and then your life goes on plus 'Star Wars.' It's just been an incredible time.

It's funny because the action figures are cool, and then I enjoy the magazines because that's me. Obviously, the fans are wonderful - they're so excited - but I'm not Rey, and people tend to not be able to differentiate the two.

My great uncle was in 'Dad's Army.' And I don't know if Americans will know that. It was a hugely popular show in England.

My film knowledge is pretty shocking. I'm trying to correct that.

Rey's parents left her at 5, and we meet her when she's late teens or early 20s, and for someone to keep hopeful that there's a better life to come, I think, is astounding. Though she starts off alone, she very much finds her place in a group of people, and that's lovely.