It has been two years since I last sat down to speak with Daisy Ridley, the heroine in a new generation of "Star Wars" films. A lot has changed since then.
As an opener I casually mention that the name of her "Star Wars" character, Rey, is also the Spanish word for "king" and posit that may foretell the direction she takes in the latest film of the franchise, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." But the 25-year-old Ridley is good at this game now, she spills nothing in terms of plot and instead praises the franchise's forward thinking.
"In older movies you wouldn't have Rey as the protagonist," she tells The Japan Times. "She'd be the girlfriend ... or a princess." Ridley then remembers the princess of her franchise. "There was Princess Leia in the original 'Star Wars,' but now she's a general. Princesses have no real power — generals do."