Cleaner star Daisy Ridley spoke to ComingSoon about her new action movie, which has drawn comparisons to Die Hard. The Star Wars actress discussed her fear of heights, the film’s action sequences, and more. Directed by Martin Campbell, Quiver Distribution will release the film in theaters on February 21, 2025.
“Set in present-day London, a group of radical activists take over an energy company’s annual gala, seizing 300 hostages in order to expose the corruption of the hosts. Their just cause is hijacked by an extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world. It falls to an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, played by Ridley, suspended 50 stories up on the outside of the building, to save those trapped inside, including her younger brother,” says the synopsis for Daisy Ridley’s Cleaner.
Tyler Treese: I have to ask: do you have any fear of heights? Some of the shots in this film just had my heart pounding.
Daisy Ridley: Yeah, I do. I don’t really like them. There was a time where Martin said that I was essentially going to be on top of one, Canada Square, and I thought, “Oh, please, God, no.” So, the fact that I didn’t have to go from the top of the building was very joyful to me.
It was funny. I did get used to being at the height I was at because, for the most part, I was in a pretty set area, but the cradle did move up and down, and there were a few times going up and down that I looked down and thought, “Oh no.” Joey is alone for a lot of the film. and I felt so alone looking down and seeing the whole crew on safe ground and me up there.
But that was a long way of saying I’m not a huge fan of heights. No.
You mentioned Martin Campbell — he’s such a legend. You always know there’s gonna be good action in his films. I was really impressed by your hand-to-hand combat scenes in this film. It’s not super over the top. It’s pretty realistic action. You look like a natural kicking ass. So, how was it working on those scenes?
I was able to do physical training a little time before we started shooting, which was really helpful because I’ve done action before. But this felt like a very different sort of thing. And because so much of it was just close up hand to hand, and because Joey has a history in MMA, that physicality and that closeness is different.
Then, because I had learned the fights in a studio and then the fight I have with the first woman is in quite a contained area. So a lot of it was getting used to doing the fights and then getting used to doing it in the environment we were in, which was then another… like woo. But the stunt team were amazing, and I just felt a lot more comfortable by the time it got to those scenes, which, of course, is fantastic. But we really wanted the fights, particularly the female fight, to be really aggressive and gnarly because you don’t see that so often between women. So that was quite exciting.
Then the big fight at the end with me and the big baddy, it was aggressive but feels, as you say, it felt realistic. They’re both trying to use the environments around them to overpower each other. And it is a fight to the death.
I wanted to ask you about working with Matthew Tuck. Because the brother-sister dynamic really adds a lot of heart to the film. How was it nailing down that relationship with him?
This was his first film, which is insane. I remember we did a sort of chemistry read early on and I thought he was just phenomenal. He has so much to balance and Joey has so much to balance. Through the film, you see so many different versions of their relationship, and he relies on her and needs her, and she’s trying to be patient.
It’s such a tussle between the two of them, I think, in a very realistic sibling feeling. But of course, it gets to a point where Joey feels like Michael’s life is at risk. And at that point, all bets are off. All she needs to do is save her brother. And I love that she takes accountability for the way that she hasn’t been the best sister. And I love that she’s trying to apologize to him, and they’re in such a rush, and there’s just not enough time, but she’s trying to make up to him. I just really love doing that with Matt. I think he’s just brilliant.
Thanks to Daisy Ridley for taking the time to talk about Cleaner.