Daisy Ridley plays woman who inspired biggest parade in New York history but didn't know who she was

Daisy Ridley’s most famous role may be for playing an unknown woman in a Galaxy far, far away, but her newest is that of a woman who made history.

Ridley’s performance as Trudy Ederle in Young Woman and the Sea has her taking on the role of the first woman to ever swim the English Channel, leading to the biggest parade in New York history for an athlete.

The catch? She had no idea who Trudy was before taking the role.

Speaking exclusively to UNILAD, Daisy said: “The first time I read the script was honestly the first time I heard about Trudy, which seems ridiculous and shameful, really.”

Trudy crossed the channel in 1926, becoming known as the ‘Queen of the Waves’.

She was truly a trailblazer, making the swim at a time where only five had previously completed it – and beating the record by two whole hours.

Ridley went on to say: “There’s not as much information as one might expect of someone like Trudy. I found what I could in terms of articles and videos, but there's just strangely not that much.

Daisy Ridley as Trudy Ederle. (Disney)

"But in a way, I felt like it was sort of a blessing for me, because we're telling the story of what she did.

“There was room around it to sort of create some of what those relationships might have been that there isn't that much information about.”

Towards the end of the film, footage is shown of Trudy receiving a ticker-tape parade throughout 5^th Avenue in New York – the largest received by any athlete to this day, male or female.

At a time where women’s sports were underfunded, under-supported, and under constant threat of closure, her achievement opened numerous doors for female sports.

The film is an emotional biopic, following Trudy’s story from childhood all the way through to her crossing – focusing especially on her relationship with her sister Meg.

This relationship, as well as the knowledge of what Trudy did, should be taught in schools according to Ridley.

She said: “Having spoken to people in America, the question is: ‘How is this not taught in schools?’

“Even things like, Meg her sister created the first bikini, it's in a museum in the US.

“She did it in order that Trudy could swim without the drag of the swim costume. Even that is so strange that we don't know that.

“It’s one of those. It's just odd. I don't know that we'll ever really get an answer as to why. But it does feel amazing that 100 years on here we are talking about.”

Young Woman and the Sea is playing in select theatres now.