The M Interview: Daisy Ridley thought she ruined her Star Wars auditions

In keeping with a Star Wars tradition that unknown young actors are cast as leads, director JJ Abrams plucked 23-year-old British actress Daisy Ridley out of relative obscurity - and handed her the keys to the kingdom.

She plays female protagonist Rey in the hotly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens (and she is signed on for the next one as well).

On the official poster displayed at last week's press junket, hers was the biggest picture among the collage of characters, positioned right in the middle holding a lightsaber.

We are at the Los Angeles Convention Center and in person, Ridley looks like a young Keira Knightley, with boundless energy even at the end of a very long press day.

She scrunches up her eyes when she smiles widely, which she does often, adding to her already appealing persona, making it easy to see why she bagged this plummest of plum roles.

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Since the auditions were held for unknowns, Ridley managed to get one, but it was far from smooth sailing. "I kind of thought I'd ruined the first few auditions, but (Abrams) saw some potential, I guess. I was allowed to go back and read again, and then I finally got the role a year-and-a-half ago now," she says.

She goes on to reveal what little she can tell about her character.

"I can tell you that she is an incredibly brave young woman who starts off alone and encounters Finn (John Boyega) and they go on an amazing adventure.

"She makes relationships she never could have imagined and she sees things she never could have imagined. Though it is a big action film, the emotional story is wonderful and I think that shines through."

Is she like Rey at all?

"She is braver than I am. She is aspirational for me as well as anyone watching the film.

"Her parents left her at five and we meet her when she is like late teens, early 20s.

"For someone to keep hopeful that there is a better life to come is astounding and to be so open to what is going on and so open to the relationships that she is building and the people she is meeting, I think that is wonderful.

"Though she starts off alone, she very much finds her place in a group of people."

Any young girl would be daunted by the prospect of playing this part, and Ridley - whose favourite film of the Star Wars series is Return Of The Jedi because she loves the Ewoks and favourite character Yoda because "he is funny and cool" - was no different.

SELF-DOUBT

Her biggest challenge was dealing with her own insecurities because "to be believed in by many other people is a wonderful thing, but to be unsure as to why they're believing in you is a totally different thing, a hurdle to cross".

She admits: "The first few days I was really like, 'Omigosh, I don't know what I'm doing.'"

Actually, Abrams thought her acting was wooden on Day One and there were reports that he made her cry.

Ridley hastens to disabuse us of the notion.

"No, no, no. We were on set and he was, like, 'Oh, it's a little bit wooden'. That was literally it. And to be honest, I was struggling at that point.

"But now looking back, looking at the film even though it was weird to watch myself, he definitely brought out the best I could have possibly given and he did not make me cry," she says.Her family, comprising two sisters and two half-sisters, have been supportive and she speaks fondly of them.

"All (my mum) wanted was for me to be working in something I wanted to do. Since (my parents are) not so immersed in that world, I'm not living a dream that they kind of wanted. I'm just their child embarking on this thing that makes me happy so yeah, they're, like, great."