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Is follows catalogue Star Wars heroine
She shot to fame as a Jedi warrior abandoned on a desert planet as a child. And while Daisy Ridley’s real life is not quite so dramatic, she could relate to the resilience and courage her character, Rey, needed to show.
The Star Wars actress, 32, has just revealed that, on top of a series of illnesses in her early life, she has been diagnosed with Graves disease, an autoimmune disorder which involves an overactive thyroid.
Daisy had just finished filming thriller Magpie when her symptoms became too much to ignore – even though she initially wrote them off as a hazard of the job.
She recalls: “I thought, well, I’ve just played a really stressful role, presumably that’s why I feel poorly.”
Eventually, Daisy visited the doctor in September 2023 after experiencing fatigue, hot flushes, a racing heart and hand tremors. She also felt “super irritable” but had no idea it was a symptom of the condition.
“It turns out everything is functioning so quickly, you can’t chill out,” London-born Daisy, who is married to Death on the Nile actor Tom Bateman, tells Women’s Health.
“I didn’t realise how bad I felt before. Then I looked back and thought: ‘How did I do that?’”
Unfortunately for the star, she is well-versed in navigating health issues, having been diagnosed with endometriosis in her teens.
The painful condition, which affects around 1.5 million women in the U involves tissue similar to the lining of t womb growing around other organs.
In her 20s, Daisy, who is the greatniece of Dad’s Army star Arnold
Ridley, was also told she had polycystic ovaries – and she is not sure if all three conditions are related.
Committed vegan
Daisy says following the most recent diagnosis, she has focused on well-being, bringing regular massages, saunas, cryotherapy and acupuncture into her routine, as well as taking medication a even cutting out gluten to help her cope
The actress wants to encourage others seek help if they have symptoms and n suffer in silence. She adds: “We all read stats about women being undiagnosed
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 normalised to not feel good. “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].”
Daisy’s most recent film is a tale about a woman who, like her, does not give up.
In Young Woman and the
Sea, out in May, she plays
Trudy Ederle who in 1926 became the first woman to swim the Channel.
Despite her illness, Daisy had intensive swimming training with Olympian Siobhanmarie O’connor over the course of twoand-a-half months.
DAISY RIDLEY
And it was not without its cost to her health, as she explains: “I got osteomas, which is a benign tumour in your eardrum that happens when you’re swimming.”
Even her break-out role as Rey in The Force Awakens had a downside.
The stress of her newfound fame, life on the road and constant fan attention led to stress-induced ulcers.
Daisy says it was an “emotional reaction” to her new life.
She adds: “I only really felt I was good enough by the third film, The Rise of Skywalker. By then, I felt: ‘I was chosen for a reason.’”
And whether she’s raising awareness of health issues, swimming in choppy waters or wielding lightsabers, Daisy has more than proved that this is the case.
Even if you can deal with it, you shouldn’t have to just suffer
ON SEEKING HELP WITH HER HEALTH