Josh Gad Ambushes Daisy Ridley With a ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Intervention
Over the past few weeks, Josh Gad has systematically been chipping away at the defenses of Murder on the Orient Express co-star Daisy Ridley to try and get his hands on a few tasty Star Wars: The Last Jedi spoilers. We’ve checked in on the series three times over the past month as Gad quickly escalated his efforts, bringing in ringers such as Dame Judi Dench — seriously, how to say no to Judi Dench? — to try and guilt Ridley into letting something slip. And now, for his last-ditch effort, Gad has pulled out all the stops.
In his final effort, holds what can only be described as a Star Wars intervention with Leslie Odom Jr., Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Penelope Cruz, Colin Trev0rrow, and, uh, Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams:
While there’s no denying some of the jokes in this one are hilarious — especially Pratt’s deadpan repetition of all his upcoming movie release dates — I must admit I’ve always been of two minds about Gad’s series. On the one hand, it’s the perfect example of Gad’s awkward sense of humor. Those of you who knew Gad’s work before he was a Frozen star might remember his web series Gigi: Almost American, where Gad’s bright-eyed immigrant character stumbled his way through a series of cultural encounters. It’s not always a comfortable watch, but when it works, it’s about as funny as anything you might find on Funny or Die.
On the other hand, though, the fact that Daisy Ridley doesn’t seem to be in on the joke — or is playing it so straight that we cannot tell the difference — makes it hard to enjoy the series entirely. The downside of being in a major franchise is that nobody wants to talk to you about your other projects, making life one long Star Wars conversation that you only get momentary breaks from. I’m sympathetic enough to the Star Wars spoiler culture that I can’t quite get comfortable with the joke until Ridley turns to the camera and admits she finds the whole thing as funny as we do. Got one more clip left in you, Gad?
Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15, 2017. Hang in there, Daisy!