To say that Star Wars: The Force Awakens launched the career of Daisy Ridley may seem like something of an understatement. Similar to her co-star John Boyega, the English thesp has gobbled up roles left, right and center in her continued rise to prominence. There’s The Lost Wife, Kenneth Branagh’s starry redo of Murder on the Orient Express, Chaos Walking, Sony’s Peter Rabbit and of course, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
When pulled together, it’s a wonder there’s still room left on Daisy Ridley’s bustling schedule, but Deadline brings word today that the actress is on the verge of headlining A Woman Of No Importance for Paramount Pictures.
Based on Sonia Purnell’s novel of the same name, Paramount has officially landed the rights to the WWII spy thriller and is reportedly eager to fast-track an adaptation into development. Assuming those pieces fall into place, Ridley will take point as Virginia Hall, a decorated super-spy who “attempted to break into the ranks of the American Foreign Service in the years before World War II. Rejected because of gender and a disability — she lost part of her leg in a hunting accident — Hall worked during the war for the British intelligence unit SOE.” Hall went on to enroll in the Office of Strategic Services, a wartime intelligence agency that would go on to seed the creation of America’s CIA.
For Paramount, the hunt is now on for a producer and writer to whip the project into shape, meaning there’s currently no mention of when A Woman Of No Importance will be ushered before the cameras. Looking elsewhere, beyond wartime drama and subterfuge, Daisy Ridley has lined up both Murder on the Orient Express (November 22) and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (December 15) for later this year.
