Carrie Fisher is currently gracing cinema screens in her final, wonderful performance as Princess Leia in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. But while the character that made Carrie Fisher famous is fresh in our minds, it is strange to think that it has actually been a full year since Fisher's passing. The legendary actress passed away one year ago today on December 27, 2016 at the age of 60. In light of this somber anniversary, Carrie Fisher's on-screen brother, off-screen friend and Star Wars co-star, Mark Hamill took time today to pay tribute to the beloved actress. Take a look.
While he sometimes says too much and speaks his mind too freely, when it comes to Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill almost always knows the right thing to say. This is a beautiful sentiment and appropriate set of pictures to honor the dearly departed actress. Indeed no one is ever really gone so long as there are people left to remember them and whose lives were made better by knowing them. Those who knew Carrie Fisher personally or were just fans of hers can Carrie on Forever appreciating the indelible mark she left as a person and as an entertainer. Though she is gone we still see Carrie Fisher, immortalized forever in her work and lived on through her daughter.
The pictures Mark Hamill chose for this tribute are perfect as well and speak to how much the relationship meant to him. The older picture from their youth juxtaposed with a promotional photo of Luke and Leia together in The Last Jedi just goes to show the tenure of their friendship and how special that bond was to have lasted so long and meant so much. Of course, Carrie Fisher was more than just the actress, she was also a writer, a comic and an incisive, unapologetic iconoclast. The Madonna of Carrie Fisher with her cherished dog Gary and a raised middle finger perfectly captures her fearless willingness to speak her mind, be herself and not worry about what other people think. This is perhaps one of her greatest legacies. The lessons she taught about truly being yourself are now being carried on in a new generation of Star Wars heroines.
Mark Hamill has paid tribute to his lifelong friend many times over the past year, in public and on Twitter, honoring the princess who was gone too soon. With The Last Jedi currently in theaters and Carrie Fisher's final performance as Princess Leia coinciding with the anniversary of her death it is especially meaningful that her role in the film was left unchanged. Despite some technical challenges we were able to see the full breadth of Carrie Fisher's performance without a retooling to set up a Leia-less Episode IX. While we will never get to see a Leia-centric Episode IX, we at least got a marvelous final performance from Carrie Fisher in The Last Jedi. The actress and the character truly shine in the film that stands as a lasting tribute to both. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in theaters now.
