Daisy Ridley on The Rise of Skywalker: 'The parents thing is not satisfied'

If Star Wars: The Last Jedi left you feeling less-than satisfied with Rey’s parents reveal (nobodies!), star Daisy Ridley says you’re not alone and that The Rise of Skywalker has you covered.

As you’ll recall, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) revealed in 2017’s The Last Jedi that Rey’s parents are deceased “filthy junk traders [who] sold you off for drinking money.”

The line embraced the idea that a hero doesn’t need to come from somebody special in order to be somebody special. Yet many fans called foul as the trilogy has teased Rey’s identity as being crucial information from the start (“Classified?” Rey echoed back to BB-8 during her debut sequence. “Me too. Big secret”), and wasn’t there some reason Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber was calling out to her beyond being Force-sensitive?

“The parents thing is not satisfied — for her and for the audience,” Ridley tells EW in this month’s cover story. “That’s something she’s still trying to figure out — where does she come from?”

It’s unclear if director J.J. Abrams has made a course correction to Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson’s plan or there was always more to say about Rey’s parentage. Either way, wasn’t the Episode VIII scene supposed to be sincere?

“It’s not that she doesn’t believe it,” Ridley says carefully, “but she feels there’s more to the story. And she needs to figure out what’s come before so she can figure out what to do next…”

For more, read EW’s entire cover story inside The Rise of Skywalker, and check out our eight new exclusive photos.

To read more on The Rise of Skywalker and other untold stories from the Star Wars universe, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly at Barnes & Noble on Friday — or buy your choice of covers now featuring stars of the prequels, original trilogy, or current saga. (The issue will be on newsstands starting Nov. 28.) Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

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• Inside Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: ‘The stakes are all or nothing’
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker reveals 8 new photos
• Check out EW’s new Star Wars Untold Stories podcast