If there’s one thing that Carrie Fisher is known for (besides her outspoken attitude) it’s that she’s Princess Leia. It’s her legacy. She completely owns the character, and no one else has ever really played the character. After a 30-year gap, Fisher stepped back into the iconic role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and while some might assume it was like riding a bike, the truth seems to the opposite.
Secrets of the Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey is a full-length feature documentary accompanying the digital release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It features tons of behind the scenes footage as well as interviews with the cast and crew. In this quote from the documentary, provided by Yahoo, Fisher talks about the level of pressure there was stepping back into the role that made her famous.
I’m the custodian of Princess Leia, so it’s my job to kind of protect her. It’s my whole life, so I was very nervous. The first day I had was this massive scene. I was scared that I would make mistakes, and I made mistakes. It was basically the worst day I ever had on a film set in my life. It ended, and I got to go to sleep and come in another day, and it was better.
Said problematic scene is supposedly set at a Resistance headquarters. It’s really cool that Carrie Fisher feels protective of the role. It’s much better than if she hated it or wanted nothing to do with it.
You don’t usually think about the pressure an actor faces when playing a character for a second time (or fourth in Carrie Fisher’s case). Star Wars has one of the biggest fan bases in pop culture, so it makes sense that Fisher would have trepidation about re-entering all of that and opening herself up to serious judgment. Additionally, there’s the issue with having to find the character again after some 30 years. Not to mention the actress hadn’t acted for a while, so there’s the fear of being rusty. It makes you wonder if Harrison Ford felt any of the same hesitation playing Han Solo, who is arguably more popular than Leia.
This behind the scenes documentary sounds pretty awesome! Sometimes these things can turn out to be disappointing and just repeat information that fans already know. Hopefully, it has some new footage or concept art to check out. You’d figure a movie as big as Star Wars: The Force Awakens would have filmed plenty to extra never before seen content for fans to drool over.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is available digitally while the Blu-ray edition will be released on April 5.
