Carrie Fisher talks fans, Star Wars script
The wisecracking actress hosts Just For Laughs gala in Montreal on Sunday
Carrie Fisher is used to feeling the love from Star Wars fans, but some younger devotees have left the screen star in stitches with their unexpected reactions to meeting Princess Leia in real life.
“What’s hilarious is when they’re really teeny,” said Fisher in a phone interview from London, which played host to the recent Star Wars Celebration Europe fan experience.
“There was one yesterday whose parents brought her and she was about 5 or 6. And she was very disappointed because she didn’t want to meet the old Leia, which is how I think about myself: Old Leia! Like a horse that’s been put out to pasture,” added the wisecracking star, laughing.
Fisher recently wrapped filming the latest Star Wars instalment and will be transitioning from a galaxy far, far away to a Canadian comedy stage this weekend. She is the headlining host of a Just for Laughs gala in Montreal on Sunday night, which is being filmed for TV and slated to feature comics including The Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng.
“I love comedians,” said the 59year-old star, citing Sarah Silverman and Melissa McCarthy among her favourites.
“They’re very dark. They usually tell too much truth about themselves and reveal too much, so I find I have a lot in common with them.”
The Force Awakens introduced fans to several new characters, including Rey (Daisy Ridley). When asked if Rey’s origin story — and a potential connection to Leia — will be revealed in the next film, Fisher said she’s as in the dark as fans are.
“I want to know that stuff too, but we have very little exposure to the script,” she said.
“We’re allowed to read it and, then mostly, it’s focused on your part, so you didn’t see it in a kind of overall context of it. So in that way, it’s very strange. But in terms of a connection, in a lot of ways, we’re waiting as much as all of you are.
“But if we were in the light, I wouldn’t be able to tell you things and not get in a lot of trouble,” she added.
Fisher recently teamed with Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright on Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets. She contributed a spoken word performance on the album, which features a starstudded lineup of contributors such as singer Florence Welch, actress Helena Bonham Carter and Canadian icon William Shatner.
“I’m always talking in Shakespeare’s sonnets anyway and he just happened to be around with some sort of recording device,” she deadpanned.
“I’m very big friends with Rufus. And one time we ran into each other in Australia and so I was part of his performance that night. (With) Rufus, you sort of play as you go, and so he’s always doing some project or other and I’m happy to be part of it.”
“I want to know that stuff too, but we have very little exposure to the script.” CARRIE FISHER ON WHAT SHE KNOWS ABOUT STAR WARS CHARACTER REY’S BACKSTORY