Daisy Ridley was battling more than just the waves when she filmed “Young Woman and the Sea” and revealed Monday that she has Graves’ disease.
“This is the first time I share that [Graves’]“I have a lot of thyroid problems,” the “Star Wars” actor told Women’s Health in an interview published Tuesday. Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the thyroid becomes overactive.
The actress has been open about her health struggles over the years, sharing in a 2016 Instagram post that she was diagnosed with endometriosis at age 15, according to Teen Vogue. The condition occurs “when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (womb) grows outside of the uterus,” according to the Office on Women's Health. She's also been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, which the Office on Women's Health says causes “hormonal imbalance and metabolic issues that can affect overall health and appearance.”
Ridley was diagnosed with Graves' disease in September 2023, she told Women's Health. She said she started feeling really bad after filming “Magpie,” in which she plays a disgruntled wife. She thought the role had something to do with why she was feeling sick. Her symptoms included weight loss, fatigue, tremors, a rapid heart rate and irritability.
“It was funny, I was like, ‘Oh, I just thought I was upset with the world,’ but it turns out everything is moving so fast that you can’t relax,” the 32-year-old Jedi said.
Ridley is an executive producer and lead actress in the film about Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel — two jobs that also don’t require you to “relax” while doing them. Even as she tried her best during the swimming scenes in “The Girl and the Sea,” her diagnosis made her more conscious of her diet and lifestyle and pay attention to her body. She is already vegan and is “cutting back on gluten.” She said she simply didn’t realize how bad she felt before her diagnosis.
“We all read the statistics about women who are not diagnosed or underdiagnosed and somehow we have to accept that we don’t feel okay and not say, ‘I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay. ’ It’s normal to not feel okay,” she says.
She added: “I have always been health conscious and now I am trying to be more conscious about wellness.”
