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George Lucas initially envisioned Jodie Foster as the iconic Princess Leia in Star Wars, rather than casting Carrie Fisher.
A report from Page Six highlights insights from Paul Fischer’s new book, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg, and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema. The book reveals that Lucas, now 81, originally sought the then-13-year-old Foster to play Princess Leia in the 1977 release of Star Wars: A New Hope, marking the beginning of the legendary sci-fi series. However, Foster, fresh off her role in the 1976 film Taxi Driver, was unavailable due to commitments with a Disney production.
According to the report, Lucas also considered 14-year-old Berlin singer Terri Nunn for the role. However, Lucas decided to adjust the character’s age, initially meant to be a young teenager, which removed Nunn from consideration.
Ultimately, Lucas cast 19-year-old Carrie Fisher, who left an indelible mark on the role until her passing in 2016 at the age of 60.
Though Lucas found his lead actress, the production did not proceed as smoothly as anticipated, as detailed in Fischer’s book.
“None of the special effects worked as [Lucas] hoped,” Paul writes in the tome. “The awe-inspiring world he had invented looked like cheap rubber and plastic.”
“[Mark] Hamill cracked jokes about George’s direction — all he said, it seemed, was ‘faster!’ or ‘more intense!’” he added. “And [Harrison] Ford routinely made fun of the screenplay.”
According to the author, Lucas felt “very, very depressed about the whole shooting experience” after wrapping in July 1976.
In 2024, Foster, 63, opened up about the previous commitments that prevented her from starring in the legendary franchise.
Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she said at the time: “I had a conflict, I was doing a Disney movie and I just didn’t want to pull out of the Disney movie because I was already under contract. So I didn’t do it.”
According to Deadline, it was due to a conflict with 1977 Disney movie Candleshoe.