The subject of Rey's heritage caused a lot of speculation among Star Wars fans, with The Last Jedi indicating her parents were nobodies while The Rise of Skywalker centered around her being Emperor Palpatine's granddaughter. In an interview with guest host Josh Gad on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Daisy Ridley revealed that the team behind the film evidently weren't sure what to think, either, and her character's backstory kept changing during production.
"At the beginning, there was toying with like an Obi-Wan connection," she said, revealing that Rey's origins hadn't been planned from the start. "There were like different versions, and then it really went to that she was no one. Then it came to Episode IX and J.J. pitched me the film and was like, ‘Oh yeah, Palpatine’s grandaughter.' I was like, ‘Awesome!’ Then two weeks later he was like, ‘Oh, we’re not sure.’ So it kept changing. So then even as we were filming, I wasn’t sure what the answer was going to be."
So essentially somewhere during production of The Rise of Skywalker the creative team decided Rey does have important heritage, actually. The Last Jedi sparked a backlash among fans after writer-director Rian Johnson included a scene that implied her parents weren't anyone special, but fans considered that scene retconned in J.J. Abrams' trilogy-closer.
Even though the movie revealed Rey was descended from Palpatine rather than Obi-Wan, a novelization said she was the daughter of a clone of Palpatine. That might just be the most appropriate reminder of how muddled the Star Wars sequel trilogy truly became.
Watch the interview above, and check out reactions to Ridley's comments below.
