Summary

Daisy Ridley stars in Martin Campbell’s action thriller Cleaner, about a deadly hostage situation in London led by climate change activists.

At the heart of Cleaner is the brother-sister relationship between Joey and Michael, which Ridley discusses the complex family dynamics of.

Ridley teases that she is more involved in the upcoming Star Wars movie, having knowledge about the story and key script details.

Since wrapping up the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy back in 2019, Daisy Ridley has been stretching her acting legs and exploring new genres, from biographical dramas to psychological thrillers. Which is precisely what led her to Martin Campbell’s latest action thriller, Cleaner. Ridley stars alongside Taz Skylar, Clive Owen, and Matthew Tuck as an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, whose job gives her a front-row seat to a deadly hostage situation at one of the largest energy companies in London’s financial district. While the action is a major selling point for the film, the heart of Cleaner is the brother-sister relationship between Joey (Ridley) and Michael (Tuck), which sees Joey become the caretaker for her older brother after he is kicked out of another care home.
Ahead of the premiere of Cleaner, I caught up with Daisy Ridley to discuss that very dynamic, and she shared what she hopes that audiences take away from the bond between Joey and Michael. We also discussed what music Ridley listened to to get into Joey’s headspace, and whether that’s part of her typical character building arsenal. Of course, we also discussed her upcoming return to Star Wars, and Ridley revealed that she is more involved with the future of Rey’s story than she was before. You can watch the full interview in the player above, or read the transcript below:
COLLIDER: Joey listens to a lot of music when she’s up there cleaning. Were there any songs that helped you get into her mindspace?
DAISY RIDLEY: It’s so awful, I am a bit jetlagged, and I now can’t remember the band name on her T-shirt, but the band name on her T-shirt, I listened to them a lot to get that rocky feeling. I have talked about this before, but this was also one of those films because I would often wake up super tired physically and emotionally that was quite taxing. So, Shawn Mendes is my morning song to get up and get to the day. But yes, otherwise more rocky sort of English rock bands is what I felt that Joey was very into.
I love that. Is music something you typically incorporate into characters when you’re building them and crafting them, or is it specifically for her?
RIDLEY: It’s not, and I feel like it should be because when I hear other actors talk about it, I think, “Wow, that sounds so wonderful.” I really appreciate other people doing it. I think I love to do all my preparation first, and then I like to just come to set feeling as great as possible in whatever form that is. So I think emotionally if I’m feeling good, usually it’s a bit of a pep in the morning. That’s why in hair and makeup, the time to get hair and makeup done is so important, aside from anything else, because you’re really setting the tone for the day. So often, for me, it isn’t character-related, it’s mood-related.
Daisy Ridley Says “There’s So Much Nuance to It” to the Brother-Sister Relationship at the Heart of ‘Cleaner’

Image via Quiver Distribution

Something I really like about this movie is the relationship between Joey and her brother, and I feel like there are a lot of people in our age group that are starting to experience that where they become a caretaker for a sibling. What do you hope that audiences take away from that dynamic? Because it was like the heart and soul of this movie.
RIDLEY: It was interesting because I’ve spoken to a few people who have that particular dynamic, too—someone who is neurodivergent and someone who is neurotypical—and I did really want to honor that between siblings. Of course, Joey and Michael had a really difficult upbringing, but Joey is able to live an independent life, and she’s able to go and do her traveling and do whatever she wants to do, and Michael just doesn’t have that capability. So, I remember it feeling really painful because I loved working with him so much, but the relationship is really complicated, and she is very flawed. She talks about the fact that she’s flawed and is trying to make it up to him, but I do remember the scene where I’m hammering, trying to get in, and talking about the history of our relationship. I had to leave set and go to the toilet. I was crying so much because I thought, “These poor kids. These poor kids.”
She’s 30 in the caretaker position, but then, of course, she doesn’t know what it’s like to be Michael and how complicated that is. And yet, to your point, I feel like that is becoming more of a conversation, certainly, of people I know now. There’s so much nuance to it and so much love and so much hope. All Joey can do when everything starts going wrong is just try her best to do it. What becomes very clear is nothing is more important than her brother, and she has been putting that off for so long. It’s not a great time for it to happen that she realizes that, but of course, that is her full emotional drive is making sure that he is okay regardless of what happens to her.
Daisy Ridley Is “Very Involved” in the New Star Wars Movie

I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s going to try to sneak in a Star Wars question today, but I just want to try to do it differently. Once the script and everything is finally finalized, do you see yourself taking on a larger role at all with the film? I know you’ve been producing, and I know you’ve taken on more of a creative role in a lot of the work that you’ve been doing.
RIDLEY: I don’t know that I’d be a producer on it, but certainly I have been very involved. Well, not very involved, but I’m involved in as much as I know what’s going on. I know the story. I know what’s going on with the script. So, I’m aware of all of that. What’s been really wonderful over the last few years is being more involved from the start to the finish, is really coming to set knowing this is the absolute best way we can tell this story, these are the best actors for the job, this is the best crew for the job. Having that confidence is so lovely. And it’s not that I didn’t have that before, but I’m much more cognizant of it now. So, in that way, I’m looking forward to turning up really knowing the ins and outs and what the journey has been, and we’re arriving at the absolute best place to tell this particular story.
Cleaner is in theaters on February 21, 2025.

Cleaner

Release Date

February 21, 2025

Director

Martin Campbell