Daisy Ridley Is Not Shooting Scenes For Episode VIII In Dubrovnik

Daisy Ridley is reportedly not shooting scenes for Star Wars: Episode VIII in Dubrovnik, as was previously assumed.

Making Star Wars shared the news that Ridley will not be shooting scenes for Episode VIII in Dubrovnik, despite earlier reports from MosCroatia that she was headed there to film with co-star Mark Hamill. BBC reporter Lizo Mzimba interviewed Ridley in Los Angeles, and says the star confirmed she is “not part of the cast filming in Dubrovnik soon.”

HOLLYWOOD, CA – FEBRUARY 28: Actress Daisy Ridley attends the 88th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood

It’s odd to think of Luke Skywalker being in a new location without Rey. Though they only shared about thirty seconds of screen time together at the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, fans have already begun to associate them with one another. That begs the questions of why and how they get separated in-universe; unless you account for the intriguing possibility that Rey merely went to get Luke and had no intention of training to be a Jedi under him when she handed his lightsaber out to him.

Rey not wanting to be a Jedi in Episode VIII lines up with what we saw of her character development in Episode VII. After she first touches Luke’s old lightsaber and has her vision, she rejects Maz’s offering of the lightsaber to her and literally runs away from the scene. The only instance in which she takes it is right before her battle with Kylo Ren, when she has little choice; she must take it to keep it away from Kylo.

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Also, it’s worth noting that at the end of The Force Awakens, she offers Luke’s lightsaber back to him. While it’s probably right to assume she’s just handing it to him because it belongs to him, it may also signify that she herself doesn’t want it.

Similarly, we see Rey using the Force only when she is forced to our of necessity. For example, she uses a Jedi mind trick to order the First Order guard to release her from her prison cell on Starkiller Base. Later, she uses levitation to get the lightsaber away from Kylo. But other than that, she doesn’t appear to willingly use the Force or the lightsaber.

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This is a lot to glean out of an actress not showing up to on a location to shoot with the actor everyone thinks is playing her Jedi Master, but the very fact Daisy and Mark, and consequently Rey and Luke, are not in the same location (and what appears to be a large and significant location, at that), is telling.