Daisy Ridley knows a thing or two about what it takes to wield a lightsaber. Though it’s been five years since The Rise of Skywalker‘s ending tied up the Sequel Trilogy and overall Skywalker Saga era of Star Wars movies in order, she hasn’t forgotten how to use one of these weapons against her enemies… even when those enemies are small children.
In a recent interview with magicfm, the actress shared a heartwarming story about how she agreed to have a lightsaber battle with her friend’s 5-year-old. Listen:
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♬ original sound – Magic Radio
Having starred in three Star Wars movies and getting ready to appear in the new Rey-centric film that is in early development, it’s no secret that Ridley knows her way around a lightsaber. It’s a fact she even warned the child about before agreeing to duel him. In her words:
I actually had a lightsaber fight with my friend’s 5-year-old the other day, and it was so funny. I was like, ‘I’m pretty good at this. You don’t want to mess with me.
Ridley’s character Rey takes part in one of the best lightsaber duels in all of Star Wars history when she faces off against Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skhywalker. And that’s just one of the villains she had to wield her weapon against over the course of the Sequel Trilogy.
However, training for an epic battle with Sith Lords and other enemies deep in the Dark Side ideology is a lot different than facing off against a child. There may not have been a lot of time to prepare, but she made sure to adjust her head space when agreeing to the face-off. She continued:
Well I was like ‘He’s 5, don’t be so intense.
While most people would look at Ridley’s level of training and experience with the sci-fi weapon and reconsider their proposal, but this 5-year-old wasn’t backing down. To make things somewhat fair, she did give him a few tips she’s learned along the way and laid some ground rules to ensure that the duel was fair — something that never happens in the Star Wars movies. As the actress put it:
I taught him a twirl with the wrist, and I said ‘Right, you’re allowed four hits.’ And it was great actually, no one got hurt.
Jedi and young children don’t have the best track record when it comes to lightsaber battles (except Grogu, who managed to survive Order 66), so it’s nice to hear Ridley talk about the duel in a positive light — especially with no one getting hurt. Unfortunately, there is no footage of the epic duel, so fans are going to have to revisit the Sequel Trilogy with an active Disney+ subscription if they want to see her lightsaber skills in action.
Don’t forget to keep checking back for information about the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV show, like the Rey-centric film. Little is known about it, but Ridley has assured fans that she should be getting the script any day now. Maybe the 5-year-old knows something we don’t, and it was the first step in her training to be Rey once again.
