To the world, Carrie Fisher is synonymous with Princess Leia from Star Wars, but she was more than just one role. The late actress was also a gifted script doctor, although this may be unknown to some of her fans because most of the time, she was uncredited.
Simply put, Fisher helped in rewriting and improving movie scripts. In fact, she became so sought-after in this field that some filmmakers would approach her to ask for help or guidance.
Carrie Fisher On Why She Stopped Working As A Script Doctor
Speaking with Newsweek in 2008, actress Carrie Fisher talked about her unrecognized profession as a script doctor. She worked on the job for many years, but she never really got the appreciation she deserved in her lifetime.
Fisher recalled doing it for so long until “younger people came to do it and I started to do new things.” She called this moment in her career “a long, very lucrative episode of my life,” but she also noted that it was a complicated work.
The actress pointed out how difficult it was to toil as a script doctor without credit or compensation. Eventually, she lost interest in it as the trend changed over time. “Now it’s all changed, actually,” she mused.
Fisher lamented how “in order to get a rewrite job, you have to submit your notes for your ideas on how to fix the script” and the studio would end up keeping the notes and not hiring her. “That’s free work and that’s what I always call life-wasting events,” quipped Fisher.
Some Of Carrie Fisher’s Notable Works As A Script Doctor
Fisher has worked on several projects as a script doctor, either she would make revisions on the plot or improve the dialogues. Some of these may be familiar titles to fans, but they might also be unaware that the Star Wars actress had a hand crafting these films.
Hook (1991)
Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of the Peter Pan tale saw Fisher writing the parts for Julia Roberts’ Tinkerbell. The actress shared via SlashFilm, “I was asked to rewrite Hook. They told me they wanted me to rewrite Tinkerbell’s part, but if Tinkerbell interacts [with other characters], you’re writing scenes.”
The only credited screenplay writers were Jim V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marmo. The film earned over $300 million against a budget of $70 million.
Hook is available to watch on Netflix.
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
Mel Gibson’s action comedy movie saw numerous changes in writers before Fisher stepped in and polished some of the scenes and dialogues. The director was unsatisfied with Jeffrey Boam’s treatment which led to Robert Mark Kamen picking up the script. The latter constantly made revisions resulting in the studio re-hiring Boam.
Still unable to figure it out, they both moved on to other projects, which led Fisher to become the on-set script doctor. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $321 million against a budget of $35 million.
Lethal Weapon 3 is available to watch on Netflix.
The River Wild (1994)
Fisher confessed that the script she was most proud of was that of Curtis Hanson’s The River Wild. It was more of a personal reason that she enjoyed working on this. She told The AV Club, “I liked doing The River Wild with Meryl [Streep] because it was taken on right after I split up with Bryan [Lourd]. That was, not therapeutic, but distracting, at least.” The movie profited over $94 million against a production cost of $45 million.
The River Wild is available to watch on Netflix.
Scream 3 (2000)
When Fisher reworked the script for Wes Craven’s Scream 3, she also took the chance to write a cameo for herself. She played Bianca Burnette, an actress who gets mistaken for Carrie Fisher. She wrote her own lines and did not forget to poke fun at herself.
In one scene, Burnette joked: “Yeah, I was up for the part of Princess Leia. But who gets it? The girl who slept with George Lucas!” The film was a major commercial success after it garnered $161 million at the box office against a budget of $40 million.
Scream 3 is available to watch on Prime Video.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
This isn’t the first Star Wars film where Fisher lent her talent. She was brought to the writers’ room to punch up The Phantom Menace and Attack of The Clones. Her final Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi, saw the actress sit down with director Rian Johnson and bounce back ideas.
The latter told People: “After an hour, I would have filled up pages and pages writing down the notes and one-liners that she would pitch.” A major feat for the studio, the movie grossed to an impressive $1.3 billion against a production cost of $300 million.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is available to watch on Disney+.
