Daisy Ridley Developed Holes in Her Stomach Due to Severe Anxiety While Filming Star Wars

Daisy Ridley has opened up about the severity of her anxiety after being hired Star Wars.

The 31-year-old actress — who played Rey in the last trilogy — recently spoke with Inverse about how her life changed drastically after director JJ Abrams offered her the role 10 years ago.

After she got the part, she recalled how Abrams, 57, told her: “Understand the scale. This is not a movie role. This is a religion for people. It changes things on a level that is unimaginable.”

“When all the craziness was going on, I was like, ‘I’m fine. I’m good. I’m doing fine. All is well.’ And I was fine, mostly. But I think I really struggled with the fact that it was my normal, but it wasn’t normal for other people,” Ridley told the news outlet.

Ridley admitted that the pressure eventually took its toll on her and she began to isolate herself.

“For friends and family, or any people who see something a little differently than you, there’s this projection of you, and you in that world, and what it feels like to do this and that,” she explained. “And you say, ‘Well, actually, I’m just a human being, apart from that.’ It’s a real struggle, between reality and the fantasy that is often projected onto you.”

Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars. Corey Taylor of Lucasfilm Ltd. Slipknot reveals he had a mental health ‘breakdown’: ‘I’m getting the help I need’

Ridley – who also lives with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – said her anxiety and stress continued throughout Star Wars sequels.

With time The Last Jedi premiered in 2017, the British actress’ anxiety was so severe that she developed “holes in the wall of her stomach”, forcing her to slow down and take a six-month break before filming the finale of the trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker.

“After the last Star Wars came out and everything was quiet, I was like, ‘What the f—?’ I was grieving,” Ridley told the newspaper, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has given her time to focus on self-care and overcome her anxiety.

“Having to sit and just be still in prison was incredibly rewarding, in a way I didn’t expect,” she said. “I realized there was a lot I hadn’t processed properly.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Daisy Ridley.

Jeff Spicer/Getty

Ridley first spoke about developing holes in her gut during an interview in 2020 GQexplaining how her anxiety and exhaustion had become debilitating.

“I saw my picture at the London premiere [for The Last Jedi] and I was so thin and my skin was terrible,” she said at the time. “My body was just fucked up. I did tests and it showed that my body was not taking in any nutrients. I was like a little skeleton and I was so tired. I was becoming a ghost.”

At the time Ridley said Glamor UK that therapy was actually a great solution for her to get her mental health back on track.

“I went to therapy for a bit, which was great. Because a lot of it was about feeling out of control, because I’m quite controlling because I like to know what’s going on, and all of a sudden you’re in a situation where you have no idea what’s going on. You don’t know if people will look at you, you don’t know if people will be somewhere. It’s like you don’t know how far your day will go.”

Ridley explained that in addition to therapy, she has learned to take time for herself if she feels her mental well-being is slipping.

“If I don’t want to go out, I won’t go out. If I don’t want to see people, I won’t see people. Facials, massages, all the things that make you feel good, too,” she said.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the text crisis line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education