Carrie Fisher named the one surprising career regret
A single role primarily defines Carrie Fisher. She took on the envious position of Princess Leia and was subsequently catapulted into a life of stardom. Whilst there are several other highlights from Fisher’s career, her performance as Leia will be immortalised in the pantheon of all-time cinematic greats.
It was Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy that made Fisher an eternal star cherished by millions. However, in hindsight, she probably should not have taken on the role at all. Had she known that the epic sci-fi saga would become such a gigantic box-office hit, she most likely would have thought twice.
After all, Fisher ended up suffering from bipolar disorder and developed a penchant for alcohol and illicit drugs, including cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and LSD. A person with such ailments finds themselves in an unbearable light that they do not necessarily want to be consistently cast in when they become one of the most famous faces on the planet.
Fisher once said (via Today): “It doesn’t look that good, show business, when you’re around it. It’s like, ‘Don’t look at the man behind that curtain, the great and powerful Oz.’ I was always privy to the curtain stuff. I saw the heartbreak of celebrity.” In the end, Fisher only thought, “Get me away from that.”
Discussing the impact of her famous role on her personal life, Fisher explicitly stated that she would not have played Princess Leia had she known what would follow as a result of her performance. “I would never have done it,” she said. “All I did when I was really famous was wait for it to end.”
Eventually, Fisher had to confront her ever-worsening bipolar disorder. Her mother had doubted the existence and severity of the ailment. She once told her daughter, “You’re not mentally ill; you’re manic-depressive.” In light of that, Fisher resisted any initial attempts of treatment through psychotherapeutic drugs but eventually sought solace in the more intensive treatment of electroconvulsive therapy. “I loved it because it worked,” she said.
The iconic actor continued to struggle with her mental health and her addictions right up until her final days. Arguably, these difficulties were complicated by the tremendous fame that Fisher experienced when she was seemingly predisposed to suffer the fate of an addict, given her genetic makeup. Ultimately, Princess Leia afforded Carrie Fisher a life of fame and affluence, but arguably that was her very undoing.
