As Carrie Fisher herself wryly acknowledged, the first line of her obituary was always going to be Star Wars. As the female lead in the most successful franchise in Hollywood history, Fisher’s life was defined, for better or worse, by Princess Leia, who she played in four released Star Wars movies (alongside a CGI cameo in the latest installment, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and what will now be a posthumous performance in next year's Star Wars: Episode VIII).
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Don't Call Her Princess Leia Anymore
We called it.
By Joshua Rivera
As a cultural phenomenon, Star Wars is so massive that the stars themselves can almost become an afterthought. But don’t let the swirl of toys and video games and tie-in novels distract you from the deftness and confidence of Fisher’s performance over the course of the original Star Wars trilogy. Many of Star Wars’ most indelible moments are due, specifically, to the commitment and range Fisher brought to the role of Leia. Think of her bemused skepticism when Luke Skywalker arrives to rescue her in the original Star Wars—the supposed damsel-in-distress raising an eyebrow at the dubious credentials of her would-be rescuer. Think of the desperation with which she breaks free to tell Han Solo she loves him in Empire Strikes Back (setting up one of Hollywood’s all-time great exchanges). Think of the way she turns the same line back on Han Solo in Return of the Jedi, demonstrating the spitfire confidence that made her such an enduring fan favorite.
But Carrie Fisher was also so much more than Leia. The success of Star Wars essentially defined the careers of most of its stars, but Fisher still managed to turn in distinctive supporting turns in movies like Hannah and Her Sisters, The Burbs, and When Harry Met Sally…
But most of Fisher’s post-Star Wars career successes came as a writer. Her 1987 semi-autobiographical debut novel, Postcards From the Edge, still dazzles, and the film adaptation—which Fisher, with characteristic versatility, brought to the big screen from her own novel—served as a brilliant and acclaimed two-hander for stars Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine, netting the former an Oscar nomination.
That Fisher was denied the lion’s share of the cultural spoils for Postcards From the Edge—a story, based on her own personal experiences, that she created and shepherded to the big screen—was typical. After the cultural phenomenon of Star Wars, much of Fisher’s Hollywood career was spent behind the scenes, working as an uncredited script doctor on movies like Hook, Sister Act, The Wedding Singer, and even the Star Wars prequels. She’s credited as a writer on three separate Academy Awards telecasts. And following the success of Postcards From the Edge, she wrote a Broadway show, three more novels, and three memoirs—the most recent, The Princess Diarist, making headlines across the world.
Maybe we can draw some small comfort from the knowledge that Fisher was having a blast right up to the end.
Fisher’s death is particularly devastating in that it comes in the midst of her own long-overdue return to the spotlight. Her return to the role of Leia Organa—now a general—in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens served as one of the key pieces of connective tissue uniting the past of Star Wars with its future. The Force Awakens simply wouldn’t be the same movie without the weight of history Fisher brings to the role of Leia. Her sorrowful reunion with Han Solo, and the pain and loss they’ve endured in the decades following the events of Return of the Jedi, make up the crushing and vital emotional core of the movie.
And there was still plenty more to come. A documentary about both Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds premiered at Cannes in May, and will air on HBO next year. Her recurring role as the mother-in-law from hell on the British sitcom Catastrophe was reliably, cringe-inducingly delightful. Her exploits with her beloved French bulldog Gary were easily the highlight of The Force Awakens’ extended press tour. And her now-final performance as General Leia in next year’s Star Wars: Episode VIII will give fans one last chance to see Fisher in her most iconic role.
Fisher’s death is a shock: so sudden, so hard to accept. But maybe we can draw some small comfort from the knowledge that Fisher, having come back into the spotlight via Star Wars, was having a blast right up to the end.
"People want me to say that I’m sick of playing Leia and that it ruined my life," she told The Daily Beast in 2015. "If my life was that easy to ruin, it deserved to be ruined."
