The ‘Star Wars’ director Carrie Fisher hated working with: “He would yell at me constantly”
Carrie Fisher is one of the greatest performers to emerge from the Star Wars franchise, starring in the first movie released in 1977. The arrival of the colossal space sci-fi story took the world by storm, with George Lucas being overwhelmed by the dizzying level of success after repeatedly being warned that it would flop. As a result of this, the entire cast was quickly elevated to new levels of fame and success, with Fisher becoming the face of the franchise through her role as Princess Leia.
However, while this character was one of her defining roles, Fisher famously struggled with many aspects of the production, whether it be the misogyny she dealt with on set or the restrictive costumes. But while the job of the director is to protect and look after their actors, Fisher had a strained relationship with one of the directors, describing her tumultuous experience when working with him.
Despite being best known for her portrayal of Princess Leia, Fisher has had a full and diverse career outside of the franchise, starring in films like Shampoo, Hannah and Her Sisters, When Harry Met Sally, and The Women. The actor also forged her own path as a successful writer, penning the screenplay for projects like Postcards from the Edge and her one-woman play, Wishful Drinking.
Her penmanship also extended to the literary world, creating a number of semi-autobiographical novels, later adapting these to the screen and stage. The work was loosely based on her own life, creating a satirical retelling of her experiences with drug addiction and complex relationship with her mother, Debbie Reynolds.
However, the Star Wars franchise was undoubtedly a complicated time for Fisher, with the actor being suddenly propelled to global fame and cast in a harsh spotlight. The complexity of these experiences were only doubled by her on-set dynamic with the director of Return of the Jedi, Richard Marquand, who made creative choices that she deeply disagreed with and treated her with contempt compared to the other actors.
When describing her relationship with Marquand, Fisher said, “I hated him. He fell all over Harrison, but he would yell at me constantly. He yelled at me one day, and I burst into tears, and it felt great because it fucked up the makeup. I thought, ‘Oh, I fucked up your shot? Now you see who really fucked up.’ It took an hour for them to do my makeup again.”
This is perhaps the perfect form of revenge towards a director who constantly defined Princess Leia by her appearance and heavily sexualised her, making her wear the infamous gold bikini despite Fisher’s objections to this, saying it represented “conquering and objectifying a powerful woman and attempting to render her helpless”. While the series remains an iconic part of cinematic history, the experience of starring in the franchise became a difficult subject for Fisher and a source of contention, with the actor openly discussing her dislike of the series and her less-than-ful memories of its production.
