The original Star Wars trilogy has become an iconic series to say the least. While that has been good for the studio that made the films, it wasn’t necessarily that great for some of the actors. While it’s been 30 years since Mark Hamill played Luke Skywalker, he has never been able to leave the role behind and move on to other things. Oh course typecasting has its benefits too. If the entire world only sees you as one character, at least it means you’ll have work when they need that character played.
Such is the case for Carrier Fisher. Hollywood is a rough place for women as it is, and the older the women are, the tougher it is. Fisher tells Good Morning America that the fact that she’s been associated with the character for so long, combined with the fact that, honestly, she’s not getting asked to do much other acting work, made it easy for her to return.
I'm a female in Hollywood over the age of — let's say 40 and we could also say 50 … they don't have to ask you to work at that age. Look, I've been Princess Leia for 40 years. So what, I'm gonna stop now that it's really ridiculous to be someone named Princess Leia or General Leia? It's ridiculous. I mean ridiculous in a good way.
Carrie Fisher is able to balance very well on a very thin edge where she can be utterly hilarious while also being entirely honest. Being a woman of any age in Hollywood has it’s problems. And those issues only get worse as they get older, and Hollywood’s definition of "too old" can be terrifying at times, as has been well documented. Having said that, Fisher doesn’t sound angry about it so much as resigned to the insanity of the situation.
She’s also resigned to the fact that she is Princess Leia. Is it ridiculous to be returning to the role after 30 years? Maybe, but she doesn’t care. Her character has become a general now which she thinks is ridiculous, but she uses the word in the same way you might use it to mean "awesome."
Check out the entire interview below. Fisher is so funny that she gets the crew off screen laughing again and again. She causes GMA host Amy Robach to break into hysterics on more than one occasion.
Whatever the less than pleasant reasons that Carrie Fisher used to make her decision, we’re still glad that she did. She’s right that she’ll always be Princess Leia, but fans will always love her for it.
