‘Star Wars’ Star Daisy Ridley Shares Graves Disease Diagnosis, Fans Show Strong Support
The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker received mixed reactions from fans, particularly regarding Ridley’s character, Rey. Many felt her development seemed rushed and lacked a clear explanation, and her lineage and its related expectations were disappointing.
Daisy Ridley has previously discussed her struggles with coming to terms with sudden fame and the intense pressures of being part of the Star Wars franchise.
It appears that Ridley’s challenges are multiplying, as she recently revealed to Woman’s Health that she has been diagnosed with Graves’ disease. While filming Young Woman and the Sea, Ridley consulted an endocrinologist about symptoms like fatigue, weight loss, and hand tremors, which led to the diagnosis. Reflecting on her experience, Ridley shared:
“It was funny, I was like, ‘Oh, I just thought I was annoyed at the world,’ but turns out everything is functioning so quickly, you can’t chill out. It’s the first time I’ve shared that [Graves’]. It was funny, I was like, ‘Oh, I just thought I was annoyed at the world,’ but turns out everything is functioning so quickly, you can’t chill out. […]We all read the stats about women being undiagnosed or underdiagnosed and sort of coming to terms with saying, ‘I really, actually don’t feel good’ and not going, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine.’ It’s just normalized to not feel good. In the grand scheme of things, it’s much less severe than what a lot of people go through. Even if you can deal with it, you shouldn’t have to. If there’s a problem, you shouldn’t have to just [suffer through it].
Graves’ disease is an autoimmune thyroid disorder characterized by an overactive thyroid. It is typically managed with medications, and in some cases, may require partial or complete thyroid removal. Symptoms can vary from manageable issues like tremors and fatigue to more severe, life-threatening complications affecting the heart and nervous system. While Graves’ disease is incurable, similar to its counterpart Hashimoto’s disease, maintaining stable thyroid hormone levels through medication can significantly improve quality of life.
To make matters worse, the actress recently revealed another condition she was diagnosed with while filming the sequel trilogy:
Oh, God! Essentially, it was a leaky gut. I was just knackered. I’d never travelled that much, or done press junkets, and my body deals with stress in a very physical way, so my gut was manifesting an emotional reaction to travelling around the world, people saying hello to me in the street. And me going, “What’s going on?” And worrying. “Oh s–t, should it be me?” or “Am I good enough?” And I only really felt I was by the third film, The Rise of Skywalker . By then, I felt, “OK, I was chosen for a reason.” But it took a long time. It was super intense.
It’s worth noting that some studies have found a link between leaky gut and various autoimmune disorders.
Fans have shown Ridley steadfast support on X:
May the Force be with you, Ridley! Have any thoughts to share? Let us know in the comments below!