EW's week of Star Wars continues with a new focus on Carrie Fisher's Leia. Obviously one of the "legacy players" along with Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels et al, The Force Awakens reintroduces us to the storied Ms. Organa, with one major difference. She's now "referred to as General", says director J.J. Abrams. Nobody calls her "Princess" anymore... with a single exception. We'll leave you to infer who that exception could possibly be.
General Leia is, says Fisher, "Under a lot of pressure. Committed as ever to her cause, but I would imagine feeling somewhat defeated, tired, and pissed.”
"The stakes are pretty high in the story for her," says Abrams, "so there’s not much goofing around where Leia’s concerned. But it felt historic to have her, especially with Harrison, back in scenes together. I can only imagine the baggage that they bring to it. I’m just a fan who loves this stuff, but they’ve been living with it — and living in it — since 1977."
"I think we’re pretty sick of each other by now, so we pretend to be interested in each other between takes," jokes Fisher. "And we fail."
Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives in UK cinemas on December 17. Our guide to the movie is here and there will be much more about it in the next issue of Empire.