Ryan Blaney is a self-described diehard Star Wars fan, so you can image his reaction when he saw actress Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, while attending an NBA game Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
Ryan Blaney gets tongue-tied meeting ‘Star Wars’ actress Daisy Ridley
A big ‘Star Wars’ fan, Blaney didn’t know what to say after meeting the actress at a basketball game.
Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
The 23-year-old NASCAR driver was watching the Clippers-Lakers game with fellow driver Darrell Wallace Jr. when Blaney initially spotted Ridley at the Staples Center, but it was when he spotted her a second time as he was leaving the arena that Blaney decided to ask for a photo.
“I said, ‘I hate to do this, I hate to be this guy, but can I get a picture please?’” Blaney said Friday at Auto Club Speedway. “She was very nice. She stood there for a second and took a picture with me.
”We didn’t really talk that much. I was just trying not to sweat profusely and make a fool out of myself. ... I was starstruck and didn’t know what to say.”
So did Blaney tell his celebrity crush that he was a NASCAR driver? Perhaps invite her to Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup Series race, or mention that’s he’s considered one of the sport’s rising stars?
”I should have asked her out?” Blaney said. “Yeah, I bet she gets that millions of times, too. I wasn’t going to be like, ‘Hey, I drive racecars.’ You can’t do that. That’s not cool.
“I didn’t even tell her my name. She doesn’t care who I am.”
But at least Blaney does have the memory of meeting Ridley.
”Gone forever,” Blaney said. “I’ll never see her again.
“That was my one chance and I blew it.”
See More:
