Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens ushered in a new cinematic age for Star Wars under Disney’s watchful eye, and introduced a new trio of central protagonists to stand at the center of the trilogy. Proclaimed to be the Sequel Trilogy, the new series dug into new relationships between fresh characters through the return to Star Wars and its well-known worlds.
When looking to cast Rey, Disney cast out a wide net in order to find the perfect actress to play the part. The studio was so determined that they opened a global casting call, which resulted in actresses from around the world submitting their audition tapes. Oscar Isaac was cast as Poe Dameron, an ex-Spice Runner-turned-Resistance Pilot, who befriended former Storm Trooper Finn (John Boyega) in pursuit to fight back against the First Order. A familiar formula was followed when bringing The Force Awakens to life, and the first of the sequels focuses on a significant female lead to save the galaxy. Rey, a scrapper from Jakku, was played by Daisey Ridley throughout the three films. While the role ultimately was given to Ridley, many other popular actresses were scouted for the part.
5 Jessica Henwick
Jessica Henwick was considered a front runner for Rey prior to the news of Ridley nabbing the role after her six-month audition process and admitted her disappointment over the loss of the part. “I was auditioning for a different character, actually," Henwick told The Hollywood Reporter, "So I spent six months auditioning for [Rey]. And then, at the end, J.J. said, ‘I want you to be in the film, but I want to write a character for you.’ That’s how [Jessika] Pava was created. But, after six months, you can’t help but just desperately want [the original role]. So, I was a mess at the end of those six months.” Henwick assures curious fans that Pava is not only "alive and well," but has been carried on through the Star Wars saga as a character featured in the comic books. While she didn't quite get to become Rey, Pava was the first female character to become an X-Wing pilot in live-action canon.
Of course, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens didn't mark the end of Henwick's on-screen career. The actress' rise in popularity followed after she was cast as Nymeria Sand in HBO's Game of Thrones, and then later as Colleen Wing in Netflix's Iron Fist. More recently, Henwick can be heard as the voice of Elle in Blade Runner: Black Lotus and seen as Bugs in The Matrix Resurrections. She has been cast in undisclosed roles for Knives Out 2 and The Gray Man, each arriving in 2022.
4 Elizabeth Olsen
The producers of Star Wars considered Elizabeth Olsen as a candidate for the role of Rey and extended an offer for the actress to audition for the part. Olsen had to decline the offer because of her multi-picture deal with Marvel Studios that she had previously signed, which would lock her in as the Scarlet Witch. Though her filming schedule following Captain America: The Winter Soldier would have given a year to shoot The Force Awakens before returning to Marvel, the contract kept her from bouncing between blockbusters. Olsen credits her love of Star Wars as inspiration for her Marvel Studios audition.
In an interview with Collider, Olsen had said “It was actually a funny decision I had put out in the world. I talked to my agent, my manager who are like my other mothers. I just love them so much. And I told them, ‘I want to be considered for the projects that I grew up …’ - like, as a kid, looking at Star Wars and I was obsessed with Star Wars. You couldn’t peel me away from Star Wars as a child... And so I was trying to figure out, how do I start putting that out there because I feel like all I’m getting are these really disturbed women in independent films. [Laughs] [Now] it’s just a disturbed woman in a big franchise! They said take meetings with the people who run these companies and so I literally did. I met with Kevin [Feige] and a couple other people that were working there at the time. And then I met with the people who were running Legendary at the time. And there were a few others in different places.”
Olsen still hasn't found herself on a Star Wars set, though has seen great success through Marvel Studios and else wise. Outside of her role of Wanda Maximoff, who will return in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Olsen can be seen in I Saw the Light, Ingrid Goes West, Wind River, Sorry for Your Loss, and Love and Death.
3 Saorise Ronan
Saoirse Ronan was another contender in the running when Lucasfilm was on the hunt for an actress to bring Rey to life. When Ronan was auditioning, any character specifics were drawn to a minimum, though the use of a lightsaber was included in the scene description. "Everyone has auditioned for it,” Ronan said to StyleCaster about her audition, “So many people I know have gone in for the part I’ve gone in for, and guys who’ve gone in for a particular part, so I’d imagine J.J. [Abrams] is probably just scanning the earth to find the people that one needs, but nobody has a clue what it’s about, and nobody’s read the script.”
Ronan is recognized for her work on Lady Bird, Little Women, and The Lovely Bones, with casting credits in The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The French Dispatch. Upcoming projects include Untitled Murder Mystery in 2022 and Foe, which does not have a release date yet.
2 Billie Lourd
Billie Lourd was able to act alongside her mother Carrie Fisher in Star Wars in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, though her role was a bit different than what she first auditioned for. During her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the actress spoke about how she was first approached for the character of Rey prior to production. “J.J. Abrams called me to come in for ‘Star Wars’ because he couldn’t find someone for the lead,” Lourd said. “He ended up finding Daisy Ridley, who’s an incredible actress, so talented.” She then elaborated about her time on the Star Wars set. “I was super excited. I didn’t know what was going to happen and ended up going and fell in love with it."
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens was Lourd's first acting credit, and she was included in the other two sequel films as Lieutenant Connix, who worked alongside General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Lourd was later billed in Booksmart and then American Horror Story. Her upcoming film, Ticket to Paradise, is currently filming and will release in 2022.
1 Eiza Gonzáles
Mexican teen idol Eiza Gonzáles was one of the top international choices for Rey after her mother, without any direction or representation, pursued the opportunity for Gonzáles to audition for the then-upcoming Star Wars movie. “She’s like, ‘Oh, some friend of mine told me something about this thing called IMDbPro. I think you have a profile. I think I’m gonna put your name and my email under it and just see what happens,’” Gonzáles explained in a video interview with Collider. “And I [was] just like, ‘Sure, mom.’ And she knew that I was really depressed and sad at the time. So then she called me one day and she’s like, ‘There’s this audition.’ I was like, ‘I don’t even know how to audition in America. I don’t have a rep.’ They’re like, ’They’re just telling you to go.’ So I did. I had no idea. I’d never auditioned in English in my life, but I just did it for shits and giggles, you know?”
Gonzáles, throughout the conversation, elaborated on her experience with the audition process for Lucasfilm. “I was completely clueless. Because you know, they give you dummy sides. You don’t know what you’re reading,” she explained. “Now I know all this information, but at the time, you can see; I think Daisy Ridley was just cast out of nowhere. They like unknown people. So we were lucky to do that. Obviously didn’t book it, but went pretty far and I was like, ‘Great, awesome. That was great. Moving back to Mexico. It didn’t happen. That will be a great story for the rest of my life.’ And then like a week later I got a call on my flip phone at the time that I had bought at a CVS, and I got a call from a casting director and she’s like, ‘Oh, this other director saw your material. He wants to read you. Can you read?’ I tape myself, long story short, it was Robert Rodriguez, a month later I was moving to Austin and I did From Dusk Till Dawn, and I don’t know how this happened. My second audition.”
While Ridley was the one who landed the part, Gonzáles carried on with her career in entertainment. More recently, she auditioned for the role of Selina "Catwoman" Kyle in The Batman, which was awarded to Zoe Kravitz. Previously, Gonzáles found her American breakout role in Baby Driver and picked up roles in Hobbs & Shaw, Bloodshot, Godzilla vs. Kong, and the now-delayed Michael Bay feature, Ambulance.