We’ve seen how well Daisy Ridley can handle a lightsaber, and now we’ll have the chance to see her in action as a spy. The “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” breakout is attached to star in Paramount Pictures’ adaptation of Sonia Purnell’s upcoming book, “A Woman of No Importance,” Variety reports.
The biography centers on Virginia Hall, an American heiress and spy. “Hall attempted to break into the ranks of the American Foreign Service in the years before World War II,” Variety writes. “After being rejected because of her gender and a disability — she lost part of her leg in a hunting accident — Hall worked during the war for the British intelligence unit SOE.”
“A Woman of No Importance” sees Ridley reuniting with J.J. Abrams, her “Force Awakens” director. His production company, Bad Robot, is producing.
Neither a writer nor director has been hired yet, but we’ve noticed that Ridley has a packed schedule. Her upcoming films include the Holocaust drama “The Lost Wife,” Marielle Heller’s fantasy thriller “Kolma,” and Claire McCarthy’s “Ophelia,” a re-imagining of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” co-starring Naomi Watts.
Many Hollywood stars with 50-plus film credits on their resume have never worked with a woman director, or have worked with one just once. It’s great to see Ridley, who has called out sexism in the past, launching her career under their direction.
