One Rise of Skywalker Scene Took Insane Amount of Time to Film
Too bad all that effort had been wasted before filming of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker even began.
Why wasted, exactly?
Because we're talking about the lightsaber fight scene between Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver ) atop the rain-soaked wreckage in the middle of the ocean.
And because there was no question whatsoever about whether Rey can lose or by what trick exactly she can pull off a win, given Kylo's record in their previous confrontations, that scene had no real tension from the start.
But at least you can appreciate the effort that the crew put into it. Filming that lightsaber fight took nearly a week, and it was the most physically demanding scene in the movie. The scene was filmed in UK in November, and throughout it Daisy and Adam – they did not use stunt doubles, or at least not for the most of it – were showered with water from water cannons, so the experience had been thoroughly unpleasant and exhausting.
Ridley even complained about the weight of "lighstaber" sticks the actors used: "If they had been heavier, I don't think we would have been able to do it,' she says. 'It's just really epic.'" (via)
As a whole, though, Daisy Ridley really liked filming in The Rise of Skywalker, moreso than in the previous movies of the sequel trilogy.
"I did all of the emotions: I did frowns, I did smiles, it was the sort of biggest breadth, and I think that's also why I had such a good time, because I got to do so much shit — like, physically, emotionally — and I got to work with so many people."
Well, or at least she thought that she did all the emotions, since one of the enduring complaints about the Star Wars sequels was Ridley's lack of emotional range, and The Rise of Skywalker did little, if anything, to change that perception.
Consequently, we're not likely to see any new Star Wars movies until 2025 at the earliest, and Ridley's own career is in a similarly bad shape, with the only big role she has played since The Rise of Skywalker being Viola Eade in Chaos Walking, which ended up a disaster in terms of both box office and critical reception.