Carrie Fisher thought thatStar Wars: Episode IV - A New Hopewas “so Stupid” before the movie came out. A lot of people truly believed that George Lucas' vision forStar Warswas pretty lame during production, and many doubted it from the start.Harrison Ford, who portrayed Han Solo, was notoriously outspoken when it came to Lucas' dialogue, famously saying “you’re able to type this s$%^, George, but you sure can’t say it.” And he even lobbied to have his character killed off. Sir Alec Guinness, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi, was very vocal over his distaste for the script, calling it “fairy tale rubbish” and often claimed that it was his idea to kill off Obi-Wan so that he wouldn’t have to go on “speaking those awful banal lines.”
Author Julie Klam has written a book about celebrity and fame called The Stars in our Eyes andHeatStreetreceived an advance copy. In the book, Klam interviews Carrie Fisher’s life-long friend and actor Griffin Dunne. Dunne recalls Carrie Fisher’s cynical initial views onStar Wars. Dunne remembers congratulating Fisher when she told him about the job, but she felt differently about it. Fisher had this to say.
“Oh, it’s so stupid-wait until you read the script. It’s so dumb.”
And she wasn’t finished there. Fisher went on to trash the project. She explains.
“Oh my God, I’m acting opposite a nine-foot hairy f$%^&(^ ape and we hold these little ray guns and we’re not even on a f$%^&^ set- it’s like this big green wall behind us.”
Dunne also recalls asking her what the title was to the “piece of s$%^&” and Carrie Fisher replied that it was calledStar Wars. Both apparently thought that it was also a dumb name and they shared a chuckle while Dunne was thankful that he could still audition while Fisher was in England working onStar Wars. Dunne goes on.
“I say, ‘What’s the name of this piece of sh*t?; And she says, ‘Star Wars.’ I said, Is that one word? Is it like Staw-Stawoze? She said, ‘No, that’s what I thought, too. But it’s two words: it’s STAR then it’s WARS. Wait until you see it-it’s a nightmare.’ We roared with laughter about this, and I felt like, ‘Well, at least I’m not doing that…at least I can keep auditioning!”
We all know how this turned out. Dunne even went to the premiere in New York for the “piece of s%$^&” with Fisher and that was the first time that Fisher had seen the movie. Dunne realized that Fisher’s life was about to change drastically after the premiere.
Carrie Fisher was an author as well, writing 8 books and her last book,The Princess Diaristsaw Fisher unearthing her diaries from the filming of theStar Warstrilogy. During interviews promoting the book, Fisher revealed her distaste for the metal bikini that she had to wear inReturn of the Jedi. She said “It wasn’t my choice. WhenGeorge Lucasshowed me the outfit, I thought he was kidding and it made me very nervous. I had to sit very straight because I couldn’t have lines on my sides, like little creases. No creases were allowed, so I had to sit very, very rigid straight.” According to Fisher, the only redeeming quality was that she got to kill Jabba and she couldn’t wait to do so.
Carrie Fisher often looked at the humor of life and did not flinch when asked about her own personal life, inspiring people all over the world. Fisher will be seen on the big screen one last time, playing theiconic Princess LeiawhenThe Last Jedihits theaters on December 15th, 2017. Fisher was excited for a larger role inStar Wars 9, but unfortunately that was not to be and Lucasfilm is currently re-writing the final movie in the sequel trilogy to pay tribute to the late greatCarrie Fisher.
