Daisy Ridley reveals that Rey was going to be a Kenobi in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. When the character was first introduced in 2015 via J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens, she was a scavenger on her own living in Jakku who accidentally got entangled with the Resistance's fight against the First Order. However, there were already hints that she may not be a random person in the galaxy — something that fans assumed will be something that will be gradually tackled in the sequels.
While The Force Awakens positioned Rey to be someone from a prominent family, Rian Johnson flipped the idea and revealed that she was, in fact, nobody in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This proved to be a divisive creative decision as some fans thought it contradicted what was established in its direct prequel, while others viewed it as a refreshing take on Star Wars lore which has been dominated by few family names. Things got more complicated when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker revealed that everything that had been told about Rey was a lie up until that point because, in reality, she's the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine. Tackling the character's lineage over the course of the sequel trilogy was tumultuous, but as it turns out, there's another option that Lucasfilm toyed with early on.
Speaking with Josh Gad on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Ridley says that at one point in the Star Wars sequel trilogy process, he was going to be a Kenobi. However, that was ultimately scrapped as the studio considered other possibilities regarding her lineage.
"At the beginning, they were toying with an Obi-Wan connection. There were different versions and at one point she was no one... it kept changing."
"JJ pitched me the film and was like, 'oh yeah, Palpatine's granddaddy,' and I was like 'awesome.' And then two weeks later he was look 'oh we're not sure.' So it kept changing."
Listening to Ridley recall how Rey came to be, it's clear that Lucasfilm didn't have a planned arc for her when she was introduced in The Force Awakens. This was something that was prevalent throughout the whole sequel trilogy, however, with each film not really following through with what's established before them. This resulted in a convoluted overall story — something that became very obvious in The Rise of Skywalker, with the movie unable to deliver a satisfying conclusion that addressed all lingering plot points. If anything, it even left the public with more questions that Lucasfilm is attempting to answer in other tie-in storytelling.
On the heels of The Force Awakens, one of, if not the most popular theory regarding Rey's parentage linked her with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ridley didn't get into specifics about how her character is exactly related to the Jedi Master, but it's curious why they went against the idea. Perhaps it's because fans were expecting it to be the case and Lucasfilm wanted something that would have the same impact as revealing Luke is Darth Vader's son in The Empire Strikes Back. In any case, if Star Wars moved forward with this possibility, the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+ might have further explained the connection.
Source: Jimmy Kimmel Live!