This is where it all began.
Beloved Star Wars icon Carrie Fisher passed away following a massive heart attack last December 27. The actress was 60.
News of Fisher’s death devastated fans worldwide, who continued to revere her on social media decades after playing Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, and especially after her comeback in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
And while Carrie would meet her fame from the space opera with ambivalence in the years to come, this audition tape of Carrie auditioning for Princess Leia shows that she was after all, meant to be the star in a galaxy far, far away.
Taken way back in 1976, Carrie, then a 19-year-old actress with only one movie, stepped in an audition room for a sci-fi film and soon left, thinking she had lost to Jodie Foster. Yet clearly, George Lucas was thoroughly impressed with her audition, and watching the audition tape now, it’s not hard to see what he saw in her that made Carrie perfect for the role. Some of Carrie’s qualities had carried over to her portrayal of Leia, that has made the character so memorable and timeless — her warmth, sincerity, and that dry sense of humor.
Watch it unfold below:
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