Many generations have grown up loving the Star Wars film franchise, which is among the most adored of all time. It is a hit, and so is its cast, which included the unforgettable late Carrie Fisher. While fans continue to mourn her death, a recent touching revelation from her friend James Blunt reflected on the pressures she faced in the industry, particularly those demanding she maintain a youthful, slender figure.
Indeed, the global shock that followed Fisher’s unexpected demise in 2016 still reverberates through the hearts of fans and cinephiles alike. At 60, she had just reignited our collective nostalgia with her return to the galaxy far, far away as Princess Leia in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Yet according to Blunt, Star Wars executives had “put pressure on her to be thin”, which is why Fisher was “mistreating her body” before she passed away in 2016.
Carrie Fisher & Star Wars: James Blunt’s Blunt Revelations on Body Shaming
It’s no secret that Hollywood has a long history of putting immense pressure on actresses to maintain a certain appearance. James Blunt, a close friend of the late Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher, recently spoke out about her and suggested that the pressure she felt about her appearance might have contributed to her demise.
Speaking about his memoir, Loosely Based on a Made-Up Story, at the Hay Festival, Blunt, 50, informed the audience, according to The Independent:
She’d been really mistreating her body, and she’d just got the job again of being Princess Leia in a new Star Wars movie, [The Force Awakens].
“I was with her the day before she died”, Blunt said, disclosing that they had talked about the pressure Fisher was facing. You’re Beautiful hitmaker continued:
The actress was really on a high and a positive, but they had applied a lot of pressure on her to be thin. She spoke about the difficulties that women have in the industry, how men are allowed to grow old, and women are certainly not in film and TV.
Well, according to Fisher’s previous statement to Good Housekeeping U.K:
They don’t want to hire all of me—only about three-quarters! Nothing changes: it’s an appearance-driven thing. I’m in a business where the only thing that matters is weight and appearance. That is so messed up.
Fans of Star Wars were overjoyed to see the Shampoo actress reprise her role as Leia in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Blunt also spoke out about the toll the pressure took on Fisher, revealing that it ultimately led to her using drugs in response.
Carrie Fisher’s Battle with Drugs, Discussed by James Blunt
Prior to her death, Carrie Fisher was featured in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). However, James Blunt claimed that the actress started using drugs as a reaction to attention to her appearance because she always “put a lot of pressure” on herself (via The Independent):
She really put a lot of pressure on herself, started using drugs again and by the time she got on the plane, she had effectively killed herself.
In 2016, Fisher experienced a cardiac arrest while traveling from London to Los Angeles via airplane (see LA Times). After paramedics removed her from the aircraft, she was brought to a nearby hospital to undergo treatment. Sadly, she passed away in a hospital.
But per The Independent, Blunt claimed:
They say it was heart failure of some kind, but she had taken enough drugs to have a really good party.
Notably, the late actress’ body contained opiates, cocaine, methadone, and ethanol, according to official records from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office (via PEOPLE). While Fisher had a number of drugs when she died, the coroner’s report did not specify whether drug use was the cause of her death in the end. The report stated:
Based on the available toxicological information, we cannot establish the significance of the multiple substances that were detected in Ms. Fisher’s blood and tissue, with regard to the cause of death.
It’s heartbreaking to think that Fisher, a talented actress with a sharp wit and keen intellect, felt compelled to alter her appearance in order to meet Hollywood’s unrealistic standards. As she herself pointed out, she worked in an industry in which the only thing that matters is “weight and appearance”, so women are often reduced to their physical look.
Star Wars films are streaming on Disney+.
