--- description: "The impulse because he’s small and cute is to infantilize" title: Daisy Ridley Learned the Hard Way That Droids Aren't Adorable Children image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2df78d1126941b76/6988733e2dce01cf989e6b67/1511300505361.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Daisy Ridley Learned the Hard Way That Droids Aren't Adorable Children ## Video: Photographing TIME's Star Wars Cover [Watch (HLS stream): Photographing TIME's Star Wars Cover](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KXrQmNTF.m3u8) (3:31)  _Published 2015-12-03. For the latest issue of TIME, Marco Grob photographed the cast members of_  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 7, 2015 1:00 PM CUT  Daisy Ridley photographed for TIME in London, Oct. 29, 2015. Daisy Ridley photographed for TIME in London, Oct. 29, 2015.Marco Grob for TIME  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 7, 2015 1:00 PM CUT Daisy Ridley had to force herself to resist treating the new _Star Wars_ droid, BB-8, like a child star on the _Force Awakens_ set. During a recent interview, the actress told TIME about how director J.J. Abrams had to remind her that the adorable robot is actually a serious character. “I had a chat with BB-8, and I remember J.J. saying, ‘He’s not a child’ and obviously the impulse because he’s small and cute is to infantilize. The impulse is to baby talk, but he’s not a child. He’s a droid with a mission,” she says. “But after they created him and puppeted him everyday and they gave him so much life that it didn’t really feel any different to acting with a person. He’s there moving around, he’s making noises, he’s responding to what I’m saying. It really is just like having a conversation.” In the above video, TIME photographer Marco Grob takes us behind the scenes during a photo shoot with Rey for the [latest issue of TIME](http://time.com/4134371/how-j-j-abrams-brought-back-star-wars/ "undefined"). **Read next:** * [Carrie Fisher on the Importance of Princess Leia Aging](http://time.com/4124142/princess-leia-age/ "undefined") * [The 10 Most Fascinating _Star Wars: The Force Awakens_ Fan Theories](http://time.com/4116403/star-wars-force-awakens-fan-theories/ "undefined") * [5 New Facts About _Star Wars: The Force Awakens_ Bad Guy Kylo Ren](http://time.com/3994149/star-wars-the-force-awakens-kylo-ren-adam-driver/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4137324/star-wars-the-force-awakens-daisy-ridley-bb-8/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4137324/star-wars-the-force-awakens-daisy-ridley-bb-8/"},"headline":"Daisy Ridley Learned the Hard Way That Droids Aren't Adorable Children","datePublished":"2015-12-07T13:00:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:07:58.727Z","description":"BB-8 is a character with a mission","url":"https://time.com/4137324/star-wars-the-force-awakens-daisy-ridley-bb-8/","keywords":["movies","Star Wars topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2df78d1126941b76/6988733e2dce01cf989e6b67/1511300505361.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2df78d1126941b76/6988733e2dce01cf989e6b67/1511300505361.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"151130050536","caption":"Daisy Ridley photographed for Time on October 29, 2015 in London","creditText":"Marco Grob for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4137324/star-wars-the-force-awakens-daisy-ridley-bb-8/","name":"Daisy Ridley Learned the Hard Way That Droids Aren't Adorable Children"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Photographing TIME's Star Wars Cover","description":"For the latest issue of TIME, Marco Grob photographed the cast members of","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KXrQmNTF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-03T11:59:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KXrQmNTF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4137324/star-wars-the-force-awakens-daisy-ridley-bb-8/","duration":"PT3M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4137324/star-wars-the-force-awakens-daisy-ridley-bb-8/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```