Daisy Ridley Talks 'Force Awakens': Don't Call Rey a 'Mary Sue'

Star Wars: The Force Awakens broke domestic box-office records and, in the process, launched the career of Daisy Ridley, whose lead character Rey was one of the highlights of J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the sci-fi franchise. But despite the film’s commercial and critical success, some commenters derided Rey as a “Mary Sue” — a characterization she strongly rejected on an MTV podcast earlier this week.

Related: Here’s Why Rey From ‘Star Wars’ Is Being Called a ‘Mary Sue’ (And Why She’s Not One)

To clarify, a “Mary Sue” is a character, usually associated with fan fiction, and generally female, inserted into an existing genre universe who immediately exhibits tremendous and flawless skills, befriends the pre-existing main characters, overcomes odds with preternatural ease, and triumphs in the end. Critics claimed to see those characteristics in Ridley’s Rey — the sudden ability to use the Force, pilot the Millennium Falcon, and face down every obstacle in her way, including winning a fight against Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren. Many refuted the argument, saying not only didn’t it stand up as valid criticism of The Force Awakens, but — especially in light of the fact that Luke Skywalker showed similar out-of-thin-air abilities in A New Hope — read like a thinly veiled misogynistic attempt to denigrate one of modern cinema’s most notable, and formidable, female heroes.

In a new episode of MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ridley takes on the “Mary Sue” controversy:

“The Mary Sue thing, I was just confused by… The Mary Sue thing I just didn’t get, because it wasn’t true. But for the most part whenever anyone is mean — and I’m not saying whenever anyone has genuine criticism about something, but when anyone’s being mean — it’s irrational and it doesn’t make sense.

“The Mary Sue thing in itself is sexist. Because it’s a name of a woman. And everyone was saying that Luke had the exact same thing. I think Rey is incredibly vulnerable, and nothing she’s doing is for the greater good. She’s just doing what she thinks is the right thing. And she doesn’t want to do some of it, but she feels compelled to do it.”

Related: J.J. Abrams Reveals Shot Suggested By Ava DuVernay in ‘The Force Awakens’ Climactic Fight

Hear Ridley’s full discussion of the “Mary Sue” issue, beginning at about the 53-minute mark of the podcast. While her Rey won’t appear in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, she’ll be back in action — alongside Mark Hamill’s Skywalker — in next December’s still-untitled Episode VIII.

‘Rogue One’ star Felicity Jones on significance of having female leads in new ‘Star Wars’ films: