“Don’t forget your roots,” is what parents and friends might emphasize to their kids as they get older. But for someone like Helena, the lead character played by Daisy Ridley in Lionsgate’s new film The Marsh King’s Daughter, her “roots” are a bit of a sticky situation. Helena’s mom was kidnapped by her dad and forced to live in the wilderness, where Helena was conceived and grew up not exactly knowing the full scope of their reality. Ridley plays the grown-up Helena, who has left all that behind after escaping with her mom years earlier before her father Jacob went to prison. But once Jacob escapes, Helena’s security is threatened, as it’s quite obvious he might just come after her and her own family.

The story feels familiar, though there’s no denying Ridley is utterly committed to her starring turn here, and Mendelsohn is reliably mesmerizing to watch. We recently caught up with Ridley to learn more about teaming up with fellow Star Wars alum Mendelsohn (Rogue One) for this tense thriller about family, betrayal and more.

Exploring a ‘Damaged Relationship’
The Marsh King’s Daughter Release Date November 3, 2023 Director Neil Burger Cast Daisy Ridley, Ben Mendelsohn, Brooklynn Prince, Gil Birmingham, Caren Pistorius, Garrett Hedlund Rating R Runtime 1hr 48min Genres Crime, Mystery, Drama
The Marsh King’s Daughter is a production that dates back to the early days of COVID, but that didn’t stop Ridley from following her heart. “I got sent the script and devoured it, and was literally desperate to play it,” she told MovieWeb. “I was just so thrilled to get the call that I had to. But then, because we were in the midst of COVID, it felt like maybe it wasn’t going to happen […] So the fact it all came together was so exciting.” She added:

Firstly, I hadn’t played American at that time. But the relationship with me and my father in it, and having a family and sort of playing more of a grownup, I hadn’t done that really. So all of it felt like quite a scary thing, but like a very exciting adventure. And particularly working with Ben Mendelsohn — I mean, working with everyone was fantastic — but Ben is just so wonderful to work with, both as a man and an actor.

Besides learning the lines and accent, Ridley noted some other unique components of preparing to play a fierce, protective mother like Helena, saying, “I had done research on cults because, though Helena is not in a cult, there’s a certain indoctrination she had in life and what parents mean, and what life means. And it was interesting because, obviously, the life that Helena has created for herself is essentially built on lies.” She elaborated about her character:

“And she does love her husband, and she does love her daughter, but what I felt is it almost felt strangely like a love story with me and Ben. I know that sounds like such a weird thing to say, but it’s a very f*cked up, damaged relationship. But this is the man that nurtured her and also hurt her and threatened her and loved her, and all of those opposing things.”

Ben Mendelsohn and Daisy Ridley Pretend to Be American

It’s interesting that the two leads of The Marsh King’s Daughter don’t exactly have any screen time together until the thrilling, pulse-pounding third act. No spoilers here, but let’s just say it’s not exactly the kind of warm family reunion you might hope for this Thanksgiving weekend. “All the scenes with us together were really challenging,” said Ridley. “It’s a very difficult relationship. I think what happens at the end is like a really, really f*cking big sacrifice for Helena […] But I just can’t speak about Ben highly enough. I just think he’s f*cking amazing.”

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Those who have seen the latest Star Wars trilogy and her other films will know that Ridley is English. And those who aren’t familiar with her work might be surprised to learn that she’s English, as she pulls off the American accent flawlessly in The Marsh King’s Daughter. “I was very nervous about that, but I do have an amazing dialect coach,” she said. “But also, we were filming in Canada. So it was like, Ben is Australian; the amazing Joey [Carson], who played my daughter, is Canadian. So I was doing an American accent but surrounded by Canadians. I was like, ‘Please, God, let me do this right!'”

Daisy Ridley’s Staying Busy

To protect her family from harm’s way, aka her fugitive father Jacob, Helena must wield firearms and more as we watch the events of The Marsh King’s Daughter unfold. “Even though I have used space guns, I had not used ‘gun’ guns,” Ridley told us. “So I had gun training, which was like a whole other thing. And then, we were able to go out to where we were filming… and we had an amazing First Nations guy who took us around… It was nice to be able to be in the earth, in the world.”

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If moviegoers have been at all curious about what Ridley’s been up to, leading up to the release of this latest film of hers, rest assured that she hasn’t been twiddling her thumbs. Ridley opened up to us about everything she’s been filming as of late — in addition to preparing for the highly anticipated new Star Wars film, of course:

“I’ve spent the last three years being really busy… But because nothing has come out, I think people are like, ‘You’re not that f*cking busy.’ But now I’m like, ‘I was busy. Look, my work is coming out.’ So I have a film called Sometimes I think About Dying coming out in January in the U.S., and I made a movie called Magpie, which is all wrapped and finished, and everything’s done. I have a Disney movie called Young Women and the Sea, and I’m shooting a real fun action movie now [Cleaner].”

“What I really want is just to do different things in different spheres, and different genres and different vibes. And I feel with all of those things, they’re all so different from each other. So I’m really excited for all of them in different ways,” continued Ridley. “I’m working with Martin Campbell now, and he’s just phenomenal.”

Given how “different” each of these upcoming projects seem, we had to ask if there’s a particular genre she prefers to tackle. “I have done action in other films, but this is what feels to me like the first action movie I’ve done,” Ridley said regarding the film she’s currently shooting, which is directed by the legendary Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, GoldenEye, The Mask of Zorro). “And it’s really hard work, but it’s really fun because I f*cking love action movies. I love John Wick. I love car chases. I love fights. I love all of that.”

We’re seeing the results of that love and all her efforts now, beginning with Lionsgate’s The Marsh King’s Daughter, which is now available to stream on digital platforms like YouTube, Apple TV, Google Pay, and Prime Video.

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