One of the more entertaining running internet gags during the past month has been Josh Gad’s attempt to get Daisy Ridley to reveal some details about Episode VIII of the Star Wars saga, otherwise known as Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The two are co-starring in Kenneth Branagh’s remake of Murder on the Orient Express, and Gad has attempted to take the opportunity to catch Ridley off-guard and learn some important details about the next Star Wars movie, scheduled to be released this December.
Despite the actor’s best efforts, ranging from friendly and jovial to probing and persistent, Ridley hasn’t divulged anything, showing the strength and determination that serves her so well in her portrayal of Rey in the new Star Wars films. Perhaps her unwillingness to share is due to fear of reprisal from Disney and Lucasfilm. Maybe she resents Gad trying to take advantage of their working together for Star Wars information. (Is it possible that Ridley is hurt, thinking that she’d made a friend in Gad, only to find out that he’s only interested in Star Wars scoop?) Or maybe Ridley is just protecting us from our own worst impulses, always wanting to spoil what should be a surprise for us when we see a Star Wars movie in theaters for the first time.
Regardless of the reasoning, the duel between Gad and Ridley finally reached a climactic end in the actor’s latest attempt to draw information out of his co-star. But this time, he really brought out the heavy artillery in questioning Ridley. (Even more impressive than using Dame Judi Dench in the previous installment, which we neglected to post something on, but will embed below. ) As you can see, he tried to get Ridley to break with some help from his celebrity friends.
And so it ends. #DaisyRidley #StarWars Give us the truth pic.twitter.com/o4d429ydzL
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) February 20, 2017
Being able to resist the charms of Chris Pratt was definitely notable, but maybe he was just a bit too boastful about his Marvel movies to weaken Ridley’s defenses. Among the others in the room firing questions at Ridley, if you didn’t recognize them, were Leslie Odom Jr. from Hamilton, Colin Trevorrow (director of Star Wars: Episode IX), Bryce Dallas Howard, Lucy Boynton (Sing Street) and Penelope Cruz. It’s Murder on the Orient Express with some Jurassic World 2 and Star Wars mixed in. Personally, I thought Howard had the best question about heels getting stuck in the Millennium Falcon grates, though perhaps a bit too specific.
That’s not true, of course. The best question was from Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams, who provided the kick at the end of this video. If anyone deserves some answers, it’s probably him. Ridley would seem to agree, as it looked like she was about to break into laughter before Gad stopped recording. Or maybe she was about to break under the constant interrogation. That was quite a secret weapon for Gad to employ.
And here is the video of Judi Dench, looking very Jedi-like, asking Ridley questions about Star Wars. She just had no idea how tough Rey is.
I enlisted help today in my quest to get the truth from #DaisyRidley #LastJedi #DontRunFromYourFateDaisy #DameJediKnight pic.twitter.com/KiJMYE8H8L
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) February 8, 2017
