With the Athlete’s Spring Formal approaching, Kevin Carlock started searching for a date, but the freshman golfer did not merely ask a fellow classmate — he asked Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley.
A YouTube video uploaded Feb. 23 shows Carlock, a freshman on the golf team at Davidson College, asking Ridley to the dance.
“Like the force in that lightsaber I am calling to you,” Davidson said in the video. “I think that you would enjoy Davidson much more than Jakku. So before you go to leave to be a jedi with Luke, there’s just one more simple question that I’m asking to you. Hey, Ms. Ridley, come to formal with me?”
On Tuesday, Ridley, who was introduced as the character Rey in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," responded to Carlock’s invitation through Instagram.
“Thank you so much for that brilliant invite to your formal,” Ridley wrote. “Unfortunately I’m locked in an intense staring competition with Luke Skywalker somewhere in the middle of the galaxy so won’t be able to make it!”
Carlock responded on Instagram with his own speculation about the jedi family tree.
“Father-daughter staring contests are epic, so I understand why you can’t make it,” Carlock wrote. “Good luck with ‘Episode VIII’ and may the formal be with you.”
On Feb. 13, Carlock announced his plans on Facebook.
“In a mere matter of days I will be releasing a YouTube video inviting a to-be-announced celebrity to accompany me to the Davidson Spring Athlete's Formal,” Carlock wrote. “This project needs significant support to be successful, so my team and I would appreciate your thoughts, prayers and spreading of the word. May the force be with us all.”
Through a Facebook post, he encouraged people to like his comments on Ridley’s Facebook page so they would appear as top comments. He reached out to Ridley Instagram fan accounts to spread the news of his invitation, although some fan accounts did not appreciate his request.
Carlock shared a screenshot from one Instagram fan account that criticized him for only wanting the fandom instead of wanting a date with Ridley.
“It was discovered that Kevin was not even following Daisy Ridley on Instagram,” the post read according to the screenshot. “We have also found out that he doesn’t care about Daisy herself, but more the character Rey.”
Carlock addressed the criticism from fan accounts on Facebook.
“Never in my life did I imagine I would be such a polarizing figure,” Carlock wrote on Facebook. “Over the past week, many Daisy Ridley Instagram fan accounts (likely run by middle schoolers) have turned on me, and I have unintentionally created a highly political situation for the vast Daisy Ridley fandom.”
Carlock’s invitation to Ridley has been viewed over 43,000 times.
Watch the video on YouTube here.
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Lindsey Williams writes for the the Faith and Family sections of DeseretNews.com