While filming the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope, its leading stars Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford had a brief relationship. Despite keeping their relationship private at the time and in the subsequent years, Fisher revealed details about their affair in her memoir The Princess Diarist. The memoir discusses how they met, how their relationship started, and her enduring love for Ford over time.
However, she noted that her co-star never seemed to feel the same about her, calling it unreciprocated love as they hardly discussed their relationship. Her brief relationship had a significant impact on Fisher’s future relationships, she also disclosed how her subsequent romantic partner resembled Ford in many ways, except for one important difference, for which she felt profound, except for one important difference, for which she felt profoundly grateful.
Carrie Fisher’s Relationship with Harrison Ford Influenced Her Future Romances
In a conversation with The Guardian, Carrie Fisher reflected on her relationship with Harrison Ford, and how it significantly influenced her future romantic relationships. The actress, who dated and later married Paul Simon, shared that the singer-songwriter had many similarities to her Star Wars co-star.
“Well, I went with Paul after that, and Paul was not dissimilar,” she shared as she explained that both Ford and Simon were significantly older than her, cerebral, serious, and possessed a sharp wit. “Paul was much more verbal. But there was something very diffident again,” she said, as she explained,
He was the same amount older. I was 21 and Paul was 36. They were both very cerebral and serious. And they were witty, which is different from being funny. Funny, there’s a sort of pleading in it. Witty is a much more cerebral self-expression. They both had that. And they’re both better after a couple of beers.
However, there was a crucial difference between Simon and Ford, which Fisher marked as a positive change in her romantic life. “This time it was reciprocal,” she said before adding, “Which was a huge relief.”
Fisher has shared that during their relationship, Ford was her top priority, however, she felt that the actor did not reciprocate the same sentiments for her. “I don’t think, until now, he knew the intensity of my feelings,” she said. However, she was glad that this was not the case with Simon.
Carrie Fisher’s Whirlwind Relationship With Paul Simon
Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon reportedly met through the singer’s ex Shelley Duvall. After initially meeting in 1978, they dated for six years before getting married in 1983. The singer is even believed to have dedicated his songs Hearts and Bones and She Moves On to Fisher.
However, their marriage did not last long, as they announced their split after being married for 11 months. Soon after their split, the couple resumed their relationship and continued to date on and off for several years before eventually ending it for good.
Fisher reflected on her relationship with Simon in her 2008 memoir, Wishful Drinking, saying, “Then we dated again. We were together for more than 12 years (off and on) and we traveled a lot.” Paul Simon later opened up about the struggles in their relationship.
While Fisher was adaptive to the spotlight, Simon was not comfortable with the public scrutiny surrounding their relationship. “I realized I could become exhausted by – I could exhaust myself from emotional upheaval,” he said, as per Vanity Fair.
Following their split, Simon married Edie Brickell in 1992 and the couple shares three children. The Women actress also moved on with Bryan Lourd and they had one child together, Billie Lourd.
