Both Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones are true legends of the Star Wars franchise. The former, of course, played the beautiful and heroic Princess Leia in the original sci-fi franchise, while the latter lent his deep, booming voice to the dark, foreboding presence of Darth Vader. Because one was on the set while the other was doing all his work in a recording booth, however, the two never actually got to meet… that is, until they both guest starred on an episode of The Big Bang Theory.
Earlier this morning, the writing staff of the CBS sitcom was on-stage at San Diego Comic-Con, and while discussing the Season 7 episode "The Convention Conundrum" and the cameos made by both Fisher and Jones, showrunner Steve Motaro revealed an interesting new bit of Star Wars trivia. According to the writer, the two actors’ time on set was actually the first time that James Earl Jones and Carrie Fisher had actually met. What made the story really great, however, was Fisher’s reaction to seeing her co-star: she raised her arms in the air and called out, "Daddy!"
For those who missed it, in the episode, Sheldon (played by Jim Parsons) runs into James Earl Jones at a restaurant, and after discovering a shared love of Star Wars, the two go out for a fun night on the town. Part of these adventures includes an attempted doorbell prank on Carrie Fisher. As you can see in the image below, she doesn’t take it too well.
There is something kind of surreal in that, no? It’s now bizarre to think back on scenes in Star Wars: Episode IV where Princess Leia and Darth Vader meet and know that it took nearly 40 years for the two characters to actually come face to face (with no offence meant to David Prowse, of course – the actor who was actually wearing the Darth Vader costume).
While we sadly may never hear James Earl Jones voice Darth Vader in another Star Wars movie, we will soon be seeing Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia once again in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII, which is still in production. It’s hard to say when we’ll actually get our first look at her back in the costume, and we still don’t know what role she plays in the movie, but at the very least we know that all will be revealed on December 18, 2015.
