Daisy Ridley
Ridley began her career with minor roles in the television programmes "Youngers", "Toast of London", "Silent Witness", "Mr Selfridge", and "Casualty". She appeared in the short film "Blue Season", which was entered into the Sci-Fi-London 48-Hour Film Challenge. Ridley played the lead in film three of "Lifesaver", an interactive film which was nominated for a BAFTA Award. She also appeared in the music video for Wiley's song "Lights On", playing the character of Kim. Ridley made her film debut in the 2015 British independent horror film "Scrawl", after her scenes from the British comedy film "The Inbetweeners 2" were removed in the final cut.
In April 2014, Ridley's casting as Rey, one of the lead characters in "", was announced. She was chosen for the film in February 2014. At the time of her casting she was, according to "Rolling Stone", a "total unknown." Her choice by director J. J. Abrams was seen as a repeat of George Lucas's move of casting relatively unknown actors for the lead roles in the first "Star Wars" film in 1977. Ridley began filming her scenes in May 2014 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, and prior to the film's release in December 2015, she appeared at the launch of a set of "Star Wars" postage stamps issued by the UK postal service Royal Mail, with her character Rey featuring on a stamp along with the droid BB-8. With international revenues of over $2 billion, "The Force Awakens" was a major box-office hit and the highest-grossing film of 2015. After an early screening of the film, Brian Viner of the "Daily Mail" called Ridley the "real star of the show", adding that her performance as Rey should "send her career into orbit." Her performance received critical acclaim, with Richard Roeper describing her portrayal as "a breakout performance" and adding "Ford has a terrific father figure chemistry [shared] with Ridley and [John] Boyega".
Shari Headley
Headley made her acting debut appearing in an episode of NBC sitcom "The Cosby Show" in 1985. Headley later has appeared on "Miami Vice", "Quantum Leap", and "Matlock". In 1988, she was cast in the female leading role opposite Eddie Murphy in the romantic comedy film, "Coming to America". The film was a box-office success grossing worldwide total of $288,752,301. The following year, Headley had starring role alongside Louis Gossett, Jr. in the short-lived ABC drama series, "Gideon Oliver". Later that year, she co-starred in the "Kojak" television film series. In 1991, Headley joined the cast of ABC daytime soap opera, "All My Children" playing police officer Mimi Reed. At the 25th NAACP Image Awards, she received NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series nomination, but lost to Victoria Rowell. She was regular on "All My Children" from 1991 to 1994, and returned to the series in 1995 and 2005. After leaving the soap, she guest-starred on "New York Undercover", "Walker, Texas Ranger", and "Cosby". In 1996, she had supporting role in the comedy-drama film "The Preacher's Wife" directed by Penny Marshall. In 1997, Headley has landed a leading role in the short-lived FOX drama series, "413 Hope St." alongside Richard Roundtree. The series was cancelled after only ten episodes, but Headley received NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series nomination for her performance.