Share and Follow
As time goes on, the original Star Wars films continue to age well. Aside from revolutionizing entire industries and pop culture in general, the newer sequel films and spinoffs have proven how hard it really is to make a good Star Wars movie through and through. Even if future Star Wars movies are good, it’s unlikely that any of them will ever reach the heights of the original trilogy ever again.
A huge part of why the original movies were so great was the cast. The prequel films had a great pairing consisting of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. While the characters in the new films have been very decisive, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac have left a good mark on fans. However, casting Harrison Ford as Han, Mark Hamill as Luke, and Carrie Fisher as Leia was the equivalent of catching lightning in a bottle.
It’s crazy to think in hindsight that all of these actors faced stiff competition. Carrie Fisher specifically had some tough actresses to beat out, and her audition story was quite eventful.
8 How Was Carrie Fisher Cast As Princess Leia?
Each main role in the film featured a tough casting process. It’s not entirely clear how much hype there was for Star Wars before its release, but considering the long list of iconic actors who auditioned for the film, there must have been knowledge of its potential impact.
Although Carrie was a more unknown actress than some of the other women considered, she tore up her auditions. According to Tampa Bay Times, George Lucas wanted someone “beautiful” to be Leia, and the visionary originally didn’t think Fisher quite fit his idea of the character. However, her charisma ultimately got her the job in the end, alongside her looks. Carrie did tell The Huffington Post that she was told to lose 10 pounds before filming would begin.
Since her original portrayals as Leia, Carrie has built quite a legacy due to her brutal honesty. Carrie’s openness and charm was what landed her the role of Leia, and pretty much made the character so iconic in the end.
7 Was Steven Spielberg’s Wife Amy Irving Considered To Play Princess Leia?
Amy is an Oscar-nominated actress who starred in movies such as Carrie and The Fury. Decades later, she’s really known more for her short-lived relationship with director Steven Spielberg.
Her connection to Spielberg is what got her foot in the Star Wars door. She auditioned for the role of Leia and was in the running for a while. Even though she lost the role to Fisher, the two actresses would remain good friends in the years after.
After all of that, Amy would act in various roles over the years. She appeared in the iconic semi-animated movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Amy has also ventured into music, recently releasing an album titled “Born In A Trunk”.
6 Did Cindy Williams Almost Play Princess Leia In Star Wars?
Cindy worked with George Lucas on American Grafitti, and her experience with him led to her being another Leia finalist. Williams talked about her Leia audition with Lebeau’s Le Blog, musing that the reason George didn’t go with her was that was 30 when she auditioned for the role. Carrie was in her early 20s, so her theory has some weight to it.
Cindy’s audition for Star Wars is on Youtube, with the footage recently going viral on social media earlier this year after her unfortunate passing.
5 Was Meryl Streep Considered To Play Princess Leia In Star Wars?
Meryl has won the second most Oscars for Best Actress, with only Katherine Hepburn winning more than her. By the time Star Wars rolled around, she was beyond an established star. According to Screen Rant, she did audition for the role, and there’s little to no doubt Lucas and company wanted her to play Leia.
Read Related Also: Larsa Pippen has ‘been hanging out with’ Michael Jordan amid romance with Marcus
It didn’t happen, though, with Lucas and the producers cutting her out of the process pretty early. It’s never really been known why they didn’t go with her.
After Carrie Fisher passed away in late 2016, droves of fans petitioned for Streep to finally play Leia in The Rise of Skywalker. It never happened, with Mark Hamill coming out on social media and denouncing such a decision.
4 Was Jodie Foster Considered To Play Princess Leia?
Another iconic and award-winning actress who was in the running to play Leia. According to MovieWeb, despite Lucas wanting Jodie to play as Leia, Jodie couldn’t work her schedule around to appear in Star Wars.
Instead, Jodie would appear in another iconic 70’s movie, Taxi Driver.
Jodie doesn’t have a whole lot of upcoming acting credits, but she is appearing in the next edition of True Detective. Pictures of the 4th season have been released, and fans of the show can’t be more excited for its long-awaited return.
3 Was Glenn Close Considered To Play Princess Leia?
Not a whole lot is known about this particular audition. According to Screen Rant, Glenn did try out for the role of Leia. There aren’t many details about the ordeal, though. Neither Glenn nor George has commented on this particularly missed casting.
Glenn has made up for missing out on Star Wars by appearing in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy films.
2 Was Sigourney Weaver Considered To Play Princess Leia?
Given Leia’s eventual ferociousness and independence, this casting would have been the perfect alternative had Fisher not made the cut. Sigourney goes above and beyond in every role she does. Sigourney recently played a teenager in Avatar 2: The Way of the Water, proving she’ll do whatever it takes to land a movie she wants.
According to Screen Rant, the eventual Aliens star auditioned for the role as well. At the time, she wasn’t too well known, so it’s not surprising she didn’t end up as a finalist. After 1979’s Aliens, she would have undoubtedly made it further in the casting process.
1 Was Farrah Fawcett Considered To Play Princess Leia?
.jpg)
Farrah wasn’t one of the biggest stars in the world when Star Wars came out. Just like Weaver, she was just a few years away from superstardom. According to Slash Film, Fawcett auditioned for Star Wars but didn’t make it past the first round.
Farrah’s iconic hairstyle made a comeback in 2020, due to (of course) a viral TikTok trend. It would have been interesting if Princess Leia had Farrah’s famous hairstyle instead of those iconic buns. Given Lucas’s perfectionism, things probably wouldn’t have been too much different.
