The Young Woman and the Sea star Daisy Ridley speaks exclusively about her Graves’ disease diagnosis

I look up and Daisy Ridley is standing at the Soho House in West Hollywood, waving to me from across the room.

Sporting a gray sweater (Los Angeles was terribly cold and gloomy for this time of year) and her signature short hair, she somehow has that special mix of star quality and approachability – it’s like your best friend next door is now a movie star.

It’s the same quality that gives her the chameleon-like tendencies that many actors aspire to; Her acting projects range from a troubled housewife to a socially awkward office worker to a strong and stubborn Jedi.

“It’s all just my imagination,” Daisy says, laughing. “It’s about showing up and being very present, being very open and available, but also submitting to someone else’s vision. It’s about being open to what other people believe, even if you have your own ideas about it.”

In her latest role, Daisy plays real-life American athlete Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle in “Young Woman and the Sea,” which tells the story of the first woman to swim the English Channel. (Daisy was the film’s executive producer.) It’s also the 98th anniversary of this historic swim — a feat Daisy learned about firsthand. “The first time I swam for the role we were in a 20m pool and I swam halfway then I panicked. I thought I can’t do it. “I actually can’t do it,” she says. “It was a classic lie-on-your-resume moment of: What the hell did I do?”

On the final day of filming in the Black Sea, Daisy was told to just swim as long as she could. She has no idea whether she swam for minutes or much longer. “I remember thinking, ‘I can’t do this anymore,'” she says. When she got out of the water thinking, “God, I hope that was OK,” and turned to O’Connor, she saw that the Olympic coach had tears in her eyes. Not only had Daisy done it, she had done it well – cold and current be damned. “The structure was worse than the matter. As soon as you are [swimming]you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m fine.’ And then afterwards I’m like, ‘How did I actually do that?'” she says of the experience.

Still, Daisy is no stranger to doing difficult things. She was diagnosed with endometriosis (in which uterine-like tissue grows outside the uterus, often causing severe pain) in her teens and polycystic ovaries in her 20s. She has been open about her health on social media and in interviews. But now she’s dealing with another problem: Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disease that involves overactivity of the thyroid.

Photographed by Jonny Marlow

Back at our table, Daisy takes a drink of water and then looks at me. “It’s the first time I’m sharing this [Graves’]” she says, moving her hands over the glass. She was diagnosed in September 2023 after her GP recommended she see an endocrinologist after experiencing hot flashes and fatigue. (She doesn’t know if all three of her diagnoses are related, but symptoms may be similar for all of them.)

After filming Magpie, a psychological thriller in which she plays Anette, a wife and mother dealing with her difficult relationship, the star began to feel terrible. “I thought, ‘Well, I just played a really stressful role; “That’s probably why I feel bad,” she says. When she described her symptoms, which included a racing heartbeat, weight loss, fatigue and hand tremors, to her endocrinologist, the doctor mentioned that Graves’ feeling is often described as “tired but nervous” – and Daisy noted that she felt great irritable. “It was funny, I thought, ‘Oh, I just thought I’d be angry at the world,’ but it turns out everything works so fast you can’t relax.”

READ MORE: 4 quotes from our September/October 2024 cover star Daisy Ridley that inspired us to *listen to our bodies*

Daisy felt a certain sadness at the diagnosis, but also, if she was honest, a certain amount of anger. As someone who takes good care of herself physically, it felt like a random blow to her. On the bright side, the illness led Daisy to take her daily medications more routinely and eat more mindfully. She has been vegan for years, but decided to go gluten-free after her diagnosis. “I’m not particularly strict, but I generally feel better when I cut back on gluten,” she says, noting that it’s said to help with inflammation for those who are predisposed to it (like Daisy).

The 32-year-old is still working on finding balance. Shortly after she began changing her lifestyle, she woke up and listened to the birds and noticed the color of the sky and how blue it was. “I didn’t know beforehand how bad I was feeling. Then I looked back and thought, ‘How did I do that?'”

The diagnosis has also given Daisy a new body awareness and reminded her that not everything is possible
are expected. “I’ve always been health-conscious and now I’m trying to be more conscious about my well-being,” she says. She is working on paying attention to her body, slowing down and resting when she needs to. And she incorporates things like infrared saunas, cryotherapy, massages and acupuncture into her routine, along with her beloved bath time. She’s also into crystals and carries rose quartz with her everywhere; It is said to promote emotional balance, self-love and peace. “I do a lot of the holistic stuff, but I also understand that it’s a privilege to be able to do those things.”

Daisy, like so many of us, is learning to constantly listen to her body, something she knows many women aren’t inclined to do. “We all read the statistics about women who are undiagnosed or underdiagnosed and somehow come to terms with saying, ‘I’m really, actually not feeling well,’ rather than saying, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine I’m fine, I’m fine.’ “Good, I’m fine.” It’s just normal to not feel good,” she says.

At this point we sit in a moment of silence and I let the sincerity and severity of this statement sink in. Looking at the list of health issues she struggles with, Daisy has every right to be bitter or overwhelmed, but in reality she’s thinking about those who have it worse. “On the whole, it’s much less severe than what a lot of people go through,” she says. “Even if you can handle it, you shouldn’t have to. If there is a problem, you shouldn’t have to just do it [suffer through it].”

To come to terms with their new reality, Her training program has also changed. Daisy has trained regularly since she was 20 and has generally always been active – her mother sent her and her two sisters to gymnastics as children, just to keep everyone busy and moving. She attended a performing arts school and also danced and sang.

Today her routine includes working with personal trainer Matt Bevan, who also trains the likes of Lily James, Sienna Miller and Jenna Coleman. “He’s just that good. He understands bodies; He understands fatigue,” says Daisy, who doesn’t really do intense cardio or running or do things that “just don’t suit” her body, her health issues and her goals. “I do a lot of reactive and functional things,” she says, including mobility exercises, some weight lifting, and general calisthenics and bodyweight movements. Moves that keep her going: side lunges, split squats, Bulgarian squats, and hip thrusts, among others. Bevan also makes sure to incorporate coordination exercises for Daisy so her muscles work together as a unit. They also incorporate medicine ball throws as well as plyometric jumps and hops.

Photographed by Jonny Marlow

Working with Bevan, Daisy incorporates specific training for roles that require it – such as swimming with O’Connor or kickboxing for another action-packed role. During Jedi training, she relied on a lot of arm exercises.
(Wielding a lightsaber is no joke.) “Generally, my training stays pretty consistent. And then we adapt things to my work,” she says. “It’s just a matter of finding the balance and realizing now where my tolerance really ends.”

And yes, their tolerance does indeed end. After doing her press tour for Young Woman and the Sea, she immediately hit the road (that is, reshooting small scenes or moments for a film). “I was just devastated, so I took a few days off from training and am now on a ‘deload’ week,” she says. (When deloading, you take a short break or reduce the intensity of your workout.)

It was an adjustment because for Daisy, training is a mental escape, not just a physical feat. “It’s an hour just for me and it’s my time to do what I need to do to feel good,” she says. The other thing Daisy really likes to do for her mental health? Reading. Daisy has always been a voracious reader and she credits this love of reading as a key reason why she is now an actress. (Her recent favorites include Meg Mason’s Sorrow and Bliss and Roxy Dunn’s As Young as This.) Immersing yourself in a script is one of her favorite parts of the job. “When I read, I get to the point where I can’t hear other people,” she says. “Reading is my meditation.”

It’s hard not to see the parallel between tuning into the words on the page and the way she tunes into her own needs now, in terms of coping with Graves’ disease, getting lost in what works for her , and finding peace in the new routines, unrecognizable from everything. She hopes others struggling with health issues can do the same and realize that there is peace and acceptance on the other side – you might just have to swim for that.

This article appeared in the September/October issue of Women’s Health South Africa. Written by Samantha Leal. Photographed by Jonny Marlow. Styled by Kristen Saladino. Hair: Mara Roszak with RŌZ Hair, represented by A-Frame Agency. Form: Chanel makeup artist Kate Lee uses Chanel Beauty. Manicure: Jolene Brodeur at The Wall Group.