Carrie Fisher was a wonderful actress, who during the majority of her adulthood lived under the shadow of her immensely popular and accomplished parents, actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher. Despite always being in the limelight, the actress, screenwriter, and novelist made a successful career on her own when she starred as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy.
Years later when she reprised her role in the 2015 released Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the actress sat down to talk about how it was to come back to her iconic role.
Carrie Fisher On Returning To Star Wars As Princess Leia
Carrie Fisher passed away in 2016, just a year after making her Star Wars return in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Remembered now as an accomplished actress and novelist, the star has always been candid about her life, be it her problematic relationship with her famous father or her struggling mental health.
Known for her charming wit and intelligence along with her honest persona, the actress once sat down with Good Housekeeping to talk about how it was to reprise her famous role decades later. While she expressed happiness to be back as General Leia Organa this time, she was disappointed when forced to lose about 35lb for her role. She stated,
“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. They might as well say get younger because that’s how easy it is.”
While actors are often told to lose or gain weight for their roles, it was the problematic mentality of the film industry to appear ‘attractive’ that disturbed her. Nonetheless, the actress did manage to lose it by eating less and exercising more.
Carrie Fisher Didn’t Think She Was Pretty Enough
Carrie Fisher, for much of her life, was talked about in terms of her famous parents, especially her mother Debbie Reynolds. Looking at her mother as a Hollywood star wasn’t easy for the young actress, for she always thought that she wasn’t as good-looking or even pretty enough. In the interview with Good Housekeeping, she remarked,
“I looked at my mother and said, ‘Wow. She is gorgeous and I don’t look like her, therefore I’m not pretty. And my father doesn’t visit… I mustn’t be pretty because he likes pretty women.’ You think I’ll go into show business because then I’ll get enough love and they will put make-up on me properly, and then my life will work.”
She also once remarked that she resented that she had to ‘share’ her mother with the fame and fans Reynolds had, which initially made her resent her mother as well. However, despite it all Fisher has now found a permanent place in popular culture thanks to her iconic Star Wars role.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens can be streamed on Disney+.
Source: Good Housekeeping
