Rey (Star Wars)

• 1. Creation And Development

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  In 2012, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy invited Michael Arndt to write three screenplays for the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Arndt initially turned down the offer because he felt intimidated by the scale of the project. He accepted the writing position only after Kennedy explained that the films would tell the origin story of a female Jedi. J.J. Abrams, the director of the first sequel film, was also excited by the idea of a female lead character. According to Kennedy, this character, who was known as "Kira" in the early stages of production, would be "the new generation's Luke Skywalker." The filmmakers made Rey a scavenger in an attempt to portray her as "the ultimate outsider and the ultimate disenfranchised person". They felt that someone with her background would likely experience a prolonged journey compared to other types of people. Arndt described her as a "loner, hothead, gear-head, badass". He struggled with introducing her as the main character while keeping her from being overshadowed by Luke Skywalker, whose role in the film was eventually minimized.

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• 2. Casting Daisy Ridley

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  Abrams wanted to cast a relatively unknown actress so that audiences would not have any preconceived notions about her. Daisy Ridley was suitable, as she had played small roles in television shows, but had only appeared in one other feature film. Ridley auditioned for Rey four or five times over the course of seven months. Throughout the auditions, she felt insecure and doubtful about her ability to land the role. However, Abrams found her funny and thought she had "a great spark". He said she "was born with this gift to be in a moment and make it her own." Kennedy praised Ridley's physicality, self-confidence and optimism, traits she thought were necessary to play Rey. During one audition, Abrams asked Ridley to act out an emotional scene, and she performed it perfectly on the first take. Once Ridley was cast, she had to keep it a secret for three months, until Lucasfilm made an announcement at the end of April 2014. Cailey Fleming was cast as a child version of Rey. Ridley said her shooting experience started off bumpy, with Abrams describing her first few takes as "wooden". However, she found working with Abrams to be a highly collaborative process.

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• 3. The Force Dyad Connection

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  In The Last Jedi, Rey also discovers she has a connection in the Force with Kylo Ren, in which Rian Johnson claims that it was used as a way to make Rey engage with him and get the two characters to talk without fighting each other, to further develop their relationship. Johnson explains that Rey seeing Kylo shirtless during one of these connections shows the increasing intimacy between them during their interactions. In The Rise of Skywalker, it is revealed that this connection makes them two halves of a "dyad" in the Force, and the co-writer of the film, Chris Terrio, explains this relationship as being "sort of soulmate[s] in the Force" and "twins of fate, twins of destiny". Both Johnson and director J.J. Abrams described their relationship as a romance. John Williams, who composed the musical score for all three Star Wars trilogies, found composing a musical theme for Rey an interesting challenge. He wrote what he called a "mature and thoughtful" musical motif for her, which he felt conveys a strong female adventurer infused with the Force. He added that the "musical grammar" of her theme is not heroic, but carries "an adventurous tone that needs to illustrate empathy.".

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• 4. Parentage And Lineage

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  J.J. Abrams stated that he intentionally withheld Rey's last name and background in The Force Awakens. The question of Rey's parentage was a significant point of discussion before The Rise of Skywalker was released. Many fan theories arose, such as Rey being the daughter of Luke or Han, or being Obi-Wan Kenobi's granddaughter. The theory that she is Luke's daughter was especially prominent, with fans and critics highlighting the similarities between the story arcs of the two characters, Star Wars being a Skywalker saga, Rey having a strong attachment to Luke's lightsaber, and her being exceptionally strong with the Force without any training. In The Last Jedi, Rey is coaxed by Ren into admitting that her parents were "nobodies". Emily VanDerWerff of Vox equated this scene with Luke finding out that Darth Vader is his father, which was his greatest nightmare. To VanDerWerff, "Rey's greatest nightmare is being no one." She added that while Ren "has every reason to be lying" about this, to her mind it is a good thing that "Rey is the child of nobody of particular importance to the story so far." Josh Spiegel of The Hollywood Reporter stated that although some fans might be disappointed by Ren's revelation, it "fits in perfectly" with the film's through line that one can be "both exceptionally gifted in the Force and also not a Skywalker" because "the spirit of the Jedi extends ... to anyone with a gift and the power to believe.".

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• 5. Merchandising Controversy

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  When The Force Awakens was released, fans noticed a lack of licensed toys featuring Rey, despite her being the film's main protagonist. For example, Hasbro released a version of Monopoly based on The Force Awakens that did not feature Rey. After receiving criticism, Hasbro stated that Rey was withheld to avoid spoilers, and that she would be featured in future toy releases. Paul Southern, the head of Lucasfilm Licensing, said that they wanted to protect the secret that "the Force awakens in Rey" and that her character carries a lightsaber. He said that demand for Rey products was underestimated. Abrams said it was "preposterous and wrong" that Rey was not well-represented in merchandizing." Christopher Johnson of CBBC said he was baffled "that some toy manufacturers don't think that girls want to play with 'superhero' toys and that boys aren't interested in female characters." Ridley was nominated for a 2016 Saturn Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Rey.

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• 6. Critical Reception And Debate

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  The film critic Richard Roeper described Rey as tough, resourceful, smart and brave, and he called Ridley's portrayal "a breakout performance". Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal called Rey a warrior with "the stylish ferocity of a kung-fu star". He praised Ridley's acting skill, "verve" and "unassuming glory", and said she was perfectly cast in the role. Adam Howard of MSNBC said he was pleasantly surprised by the strength of Rey as a character, while Casey Cipriani of Bustle called Rey new feminist icon. Soon after the release of The Force Awakens, the screenwriter Max Landis posted a series of tweets referring to Rey as a Mary Sue, an unrealistically perfect, idealized female character, on the basis of her seemingly natural skills as a mechanic, a fighter, a pilot, and a user of "The Force". Landis's posts drew attention from many Twitter users and resulted in what Caroline Framke of Vox described as a "Twitter war". Echoing Landis, both Tasha Robinson of The Verge and Emily Rome of HitFix described Rey as a "wish-fulfillment" character due to her formidable and unrealistic skills, although Robinson claimed that other Star Wars characters are similarly wish-fulfilling.

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