I've learned a few things at Celebration VI, and I can share one piece of important advice with you: if you ever get the chance to see Carrier Fisher live, you shouldn't miss it. Princess Leia came to the main stage tonight, and she was as charming as ever. I don't think that even Darth Vader could have resisted her wit.
Host James Arnold Taylor had her talking about Star Wars: A New Hope in no time. She thought the script was awesome the first time she read it, and she believed it would be a fun role. Even though she teased that she wanted the part of Han Solo, she liked that Leia was the only girl in an all boy fantasy (that wasn't uh, adult). She couldn't imagine how George Lucas was going to execute his story though and of course none of them had any idea that the franchise would become what it is now.
She mentioned that she was told to lose ten pounds when she got the part, and she said she went to a fat farm to do it. She wasn't the only notable there either; Lady Bird Johnson was there and kept asking Fisher about the "Car Wash" movie. Priceless.
Fisher was the one to bring up her spotty accent in the first movie. The first scene she filmed in was with Grand Moff Tarkin when she mentions his foul stench. “How do you say that without a British accent?” She followed that with, “Well, I don't know how apparently.” She then went on to share that Peter Cushing always wore white gloves to prevent his fingers being stained by his filterless cigarettes and how he always smelled like violets.
Before moving on to discuss the next installment of the saga, Taylor asked Fisher about the infamous holiday special. Like most people – including Lucas – she thinks it's painful to watch. She didn't hold back (that was the theme of the hour). Her dismay didn't stop her from breaking into the Life Day song without missing a note. She even watched part of the performance along with us. I noticed she was shaking her head at the screen. As she put it, it's like watching an episode of I Love Lucy with a lot of Wookiees running around.
After she recovered from watching the infamous holiday special, she told Taylor that The Empire Strikes Back was her favorite of the movies. She thinks it's the most emotional,, too. She shared a funny story about her and Harrison Ford partying all night with Rolling Stones at Eric Idle's house and arriving to the set next morning in the worst possible shape. They still went on with filming, and she says her and Ford were definitely a little rough around the edges when they landed on Cloud City and met Lando.
It's impossible to talk to Carrie Fisher and not mention the metal bikini. As some have heard, she didn't believe Lucas when he showed her the outfit. She thought he was kidding. And she genuinely had no idea that she was a pin-up and beloved by men of all ages across the world. It just didn't feel that way to her at the time.
Watching her was delightful. She has impeccable comedic timing, and I think she caught Taylor off guard a few times. She was more than willing to share her memories and few jokes of a more adult nature that I probably shouldn't share here. She had the entire audience cracking up throughout the hour, and she capped it all off by spanking Taylor on the way out for their phony photo op moment. Yeah, the Princess still has it.
Amy Ratcliffe is addicted to Star Wars and writing. You can follow her on Twitter and keep up with all things geeky at her blog.
