Carrie Fisher on Being Cast in STAR WARS and Wanting to Play Han Solo
There’s an old archived interview with Carrie Fisher in a recent issue of SFX magazine. In that interview she talks about being cast in Star Wars and how when she first read the script, she wanted to play Han Solo.
“I remember I read the script out loud with a friend of mine, Miguel Ferrer. It read fantastic. We both wanted to play the part of Han Solo because that was the best part. I couldn’t imagine how they were going to pull it off [but] I definitely wanted to be in it given that they had a chance at pulling it off. Oh what a Star Wars that would have been.”
At 19 years old, Fisher ended up taking on the role of Princess Leia, which I always thought was a badass character as well. She was more badass than Luke Skywalker, that’s for sure. She went on to talk about her insecurity after she learned that she landed the part, saying:
“When I got the part they told me I had to lose 15 pounds so I thought I’d better lose that or they’ll fire me! I kept thinking they would realize they’d made a mistake so I kept very quiet, which, if you know me is unbelievable!”
She was so scared that they would fire her for some reason that she conformed to whatever it is that they wanted, and that included the iconic bun hairstyle. When talking about that she said:
“When [George Lucas] said, ‘We’re going to put that awful hairstyle on you,’ I grew to love it. ‘What do you think of this?’ they asked. ‘Do you like it?’ I said, ‘It’s fantastic!’ So that’s why that [hairstyle] exists. I did whatever they said as I kept thinking they’d realize what they’d done and fire me.”
I don’t think anyone would have fired her if she spoke up about anything she didn’t like about her character. Lucas made the right decision by casting Fisher in the role because she was awesome! I can’t imagine anyone else in that role. No one else would have been about to pull it off the way she did. She brought the perfect amount of strength and attitude that the character needed.
Via: Games Radar