Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) opened up about her autoimmune disorder, Graves’ disease, in a Tuesday interview with Women’s Health magazine.
Ridley was first diagnosed with Graves’ disease, which involves overactivity of the thyroid, in September 2023, after experiencing hot flashes and fatigue. The Star Wars actress first attributed the symptoms to her role in psychological thriller Magpie. “I thought, Well, I’ve just played a really stressful role; presumably that’s why I feel poorly,” she told Women’s Health. After seeking help from an endocrinologist, Ridley described having a rapid heart rate, weight loss, fatigue, and hand tremors, which her doctor compared to the “tired but wired” state of Graves’ disease.
Many performers, like Missy Elliott, who was diagnosed in 2008, refuse to let the condition slow them down. (The “Get Ur Freak On” rapper kicked off her first headlining tour in July.)
In an effort to restore balance in her life, Ridley told Women’s Health that she’s attended infrared saunas, cryotherapy, and had massages and acupuncture, plus she carries a rose quartz crystal, which is said to help establish emotional balance, self-love, and peace. Ridley was also diagnosed with endometriosis (where uterine-like tissue grows outside the uterus, causing severe pain) in her teens and polycystic ovaries (a condition where someone experiences few, unusual or long periods) in her twenties.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s much less severe than what a lot of people go through,” Ridley said of Graves’ disease. “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].”
The Star Wars trilogy Jedi recently starred in Young Woman and the Sea as American athlete Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel.
Michaela Coel in ‘The Christophers.’Claudette Barius/NEON