The actress opened up to ET on the red carpet in Hollywood on Monday at the film's star-studded premiere.
For Daisy Ridley, watching the final film in her Star Wars trilogy was a truly emotional experience.
Ridley walked the red carpet at the premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in Hollywood on Monday, and she opened up to ET's Ash Crossan about her tearful reaction when she finally saw a cut of the completed project.
"We all sort of sat around a bit stunned," Ridley recalled. "And then I was trying to scurry off into the car to cry and [producer] Michelle Rejwan and [screenwriter] Chris Terrio were like, 'No, go on.' I was like, 'I don't want to cry in front of you! I just want to get in the car.'"
According to Ridley, the final installment in the Skywalker saga "moves super fast," and proves to be something of an emotional rollercoaster.
"It's, like, super snappy. So you're sort of so tuned in that we really didn't process it until the end," she shared. "Then suddenly, you're like, 'Oh… oh my gosh,' … it's very overwhelming."
So how did the celebrated actress cope with the emotional maelstrom? Ridley revealed that she turned to a popular sitcom to feel better.
After watching the film for the first time, and crying as a result, Ridley explained with a laugh, "I had to watch some Friends to wind down."
As the hero of the Star Wars franchise's most recent trilogy, Ridley has been at the eye of the storm when it comes to the intense scrutiny from fans and press -- over both her role and the movies themselves -- since Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters in December 2015.
However, with this being the end of the Skywalker era, Ridley said she feels the response to the film isn't something that is weighing on her quite as heavily.
"I'm aware of the whole process [now], and I was more present the whole time," Ridley said of the whirlwind press tour promoting the hotly anticipated film. "I feel more than ever it's out of my hands, because there's nothing I can do."
"It feels weird to take that step into sharing it," she added of the film itself. "Because it's ours [right] now, but then in like three hours it will be everyone else's."
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters Dec. 20.
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