--- title: Star Wars: Daisy Ridley on 'Mary Sue' Criticism of Rey description: When Daisy Ridley's Rey was introduced to the 'Star Wars' franchise, some critics of the character argued that she was a "Mary Sue" canonical: https://time.com/4549109/star-wars-daisy-ridley-rey-mary-sue-criticism/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-28T16:08:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:48:02.169Z og:title: Daisy Ridley Says Criticism of Rey in Star Wars Is 'Sexist' og:description: "She’s just doing what she thinks is the right thing" og:url: https://time.com/4549109/star-wars-daisy-ridley-rey-mary-sue-criticism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42b3f247639c0e28/6988793b196cf475b3039e10/star-wars-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5086 og:image:height: 2861 og:image:alt: star-wars-facebook og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Daisy Ridley Says Criticism of Rey in Star Wars Is 'Sexist' twitter:description: "She’s just doing what she thinks is the right thing" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42b3f247639c0e28/6988793b196cf475b3039e10/star-wars-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Daisy Ridley Responds to 'Sexist' Criticism of Rey in _Star Wars_ > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Daisy Ridley on Landing a Role in "Star Wars" After Months of Auditions [Watch (HLS stream): Daisy Ridley on Landing a Role in "Star Wars" After Months of Auditions](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/luqRew80.m3u8) (1:02)  _Published 2016-02-02. Daisy Ridley on Landing a Role in "Star Wars" After Months of Auditions_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 28, 2016 4:08 PM UTC  Star Wars: The Force Awakens Star Wars: The Force Awakens Lucasfilm Ltd.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 28, 2016 4:08 PM UTC When [Daisy Ridley’s](http://time.com/4506127/daisy-ridley-quit-instagram-because-of-the-pressure-of-growing-up-in-the-public-eye/) Rey was introduced to the [_Star Wars_](http://time.com/4329059/star-wars-episode-viii-mystery-and-excitement-surrounds-filming-in-ireland/)franchise in 2015’s [_The Force Awakens_](http://time.com/4275495/star-wars-the-force-awakens-deleted-scenes/), she was seen by many as a [feminist icon](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/star-wars-the-force-awakens-hero-rey-hailed-feminist-icon). However, some critics of the scavenger turned Jedi in training have argued that she falls into the “Mary Sue” category, a term typically used to describe a female character who is unrealistically perfect. During Wednesday’s installment of MTV News’ [_Happy Sad Confused_](http://www.mtv.com/news/2947273/happy-sad-confused-with-nick-nolte-and-daisy-ridley/) podcast, host Josh Horowitz asked Ridley for her opinion on the backlash and whether she believes Rey fits the mold of the stereotypical characterization. “The Mary Sue thing in itself is sexist because it’s the name of a woman,” Ridley said. “Everyone was saying that Luke had the exact same \[capabilities\]. I think Rey is incredible 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. So for me, I was just confused.” Listen to the full conversation at [MTV.com](http://www.mtv.com/news/2947273/happy-sad-confused-with-nick-nolte-and-daisy-ridley/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4549109/star-wars-daisy-ridley-rey-mary-sue-criticism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4549109/star-wars-daisy-ridley-rey-mary-sue-criticism/"},"headline":"Daisy Ridley Responds to 'Sexist' Criticism of Rey in Star Wars","datePublished":"2016-10-28T16:08:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:48:02.169Z","description":"\"She’s just doing what she thinks is the right thing\"","url":"https://time.com/4549109/star-wars-daisy-ridley-rey-mary-sue-criticism/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","Star Wars","daisy ridley","star wars: the force awakens","The Force Awakens"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42b3f247639c0e28/6988793b196cf475b3039e10/star-wars-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42b3f247639c0e28/6988793b196cf475b3039e10/star-wars-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"star-wars-facebook","caption":"Star Wars: The Force Awakens.","creditText":"Lucasfilm Ltd.","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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4549109/star-wars-daisy-ridley-rey-mary-sue-criticism/","name":"Daisy Ridley Responds to 'Sexist' Criticism of Rey in Star Wars"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Daisy Ridley on Landing a Role in \"Star Wars\" After Months of Auditions","description":"Daisy Ridley on Landing a Role in \"Star Wars\" After Months of Auditions","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/luqRew80/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-02T18:24:35.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/luqRew80.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4549109/star-wars-daisy-ridley-rey-mary-sue-criticism/","duration":"PT1M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4549109/star-wars-daisy-ridley-rey-mary-sue-criticism/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```