Before Star Wars: The Force Awakens released, fans were full of questions: Where is Luke? Who is Kylo Ren? Why is that Stormtrooper a good guy? Thankfully, after seeing the movie we now know the answer to all of those – but a bunch of others have taken their place. Is Ren now irredeemable? What’s the true identity of Supreme Leader Snoke? And, the question we’ll be focusing on today: just who is Rey?
As brilliantly played by Daisy Ridley, Rey was the beating heart of the aforementioned film – a modern day Luke Skywalker and a new female hero in a world where blockbusters still don’t have enough of those. It’s a testament to how great the character is that streams of people have been flocking to the internet to theorize about her identity.
Unfortunately, The Force Awakens didn’t give us much to work with and what it did was conflicting – we know she’s a natural pilot like Han, but then she had an X-Wing helmet like Luke’s – so fans have come up with ideas that vary wildly, in both detail and plausibility, about who Rey was before she was abandoned on Jakku. These range from everything to her being the reincarnation of Anakin to being a descendant of Obi-Wan.
It’s looking like Star Wars: The Last Jedi will shed more light on this, but until it arrives, the theories will continue to run rampant – though one of the film’s stars may have just let the cat out of the bag. Speaking to GQ in a recent interview, Adam Driver seemingly slipped up and said something very interesting:
“I remember the initial conversations about having things ‘skinned’, peeling away layers to evolve into other people, and the person Kylo’s pretending to be on the outside is not who he is. He’s a vulnerable kid who doesn’t know where to put his energy, but when he puts his mask on, suddenly, he’s playing a role. JJ had that idea initially and I think Rian took it to the next level. You have, also, the hidden identity of this princess who’s hiding who she really is so she can survive and Kylo Ren and her hiding behind these artifices.”
Yes, that’s right – Adam Driver just called Rey a princess. So, does this mean that Daisy Ridley’s heroine is actually Leia’s daughter and Kylo’s sister? Perhaps, but it’s important to note that it seems strange that the actor would let something so massive like this slip out. Not to mention that you’d imagine even if he did, the studio’s PR department would surely have had it erased from the interview before it was published, right?
Then again, even if Rey is a princess, that doesn’t necessarily mean her mother is Leia. Plus, Driver may not be saying that she’s a literal princess – it could just be a figure of speech. Really, it’s tough to tell what exactly he means here, but it’s certainly intriguing and will no doubt have fans talking.
Thankfully, they won’t have to wait long before they get an answer, as Star Wars: The Last Jedi is all set to blast into theatres on December 15th.
