Leia lives again!
First glimpse of Carrie Fisher in the new Star Wars film – two years after she died
THIS is the first glimpse of Carrie Fisher in the new Star Wars film – more than two years after her death.
The actress who first sprang to fame as Princess Leia in 1977, is seen with British star Daisy Ridley – who plays heroine Rey – in a trailer for Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, which is set for release in December.
Ms Ridley said the experience of seeing her close friend ‘alive’ on screen again was ‘definitely emotional’.
Oscar Isaac, who plays rebel fighter Poe Dameron in the new film, added: ‘It’s so moving and so heartbreaking at the same time because she should be here.’
Fisher’s final appearance as Leia comes thanks to unused footage left over from her work on 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Production on the latest Star Wars film began in July 2018, 18 months after Fisher’s death from a drugs overdose aged 60.
Director J.J. Abrams said that using a computer-generated version of the star ‘wasn’t an option’, adding: ‘Princess Leia lives in this film in a way that is mind-blowing to me. We’re working with her every day.’
Fisher’s appearance in the new movie was welcomed by her actor brother Todd, who said: ‘As we, her family, as well as her extended family of fans around the world so believe, Carrie’s Princess Leia is forever entrenched in the franchise and her indelible presence is fundamental to the film. J.J. Abrams understood Carrie’s iconic role, and he has masterfully recrafted this very last footage of Carrie.
‘Our family and her fans will look forward with great anticipation for this one. Her force will forever be with us.’
Fisher played Princess Leia in five previous films. She starred in the 1977 original, its sequel The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, and 1983’s Return Of The Jedi.
Then, following Disney’s 2012 acquisition of the franchise, she reprised her role in 2015’s The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi in 2017.
The trailer for the new movie ends with Luke Skywalker’s voice saying: ‘No one is ever really gone.’
British actor Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, was controversially recreated digitally for the role of Grand Moff Tarkin, commander of the Death Star, for Star Wars spin-off Rogue One in 2016.