Director Rian Johnson discusses Carrie Fisher’s Leia in ‘Last Jedi’ as wrapping up her story
Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson spoke from D23 about Carrie Fisher’s “beautiful” performance in the film as Leia, and said he hopes fans experience “catharsis” from seeing the actress play the character one more time.
Fisher was originally meant to appear as Leia in all three of the new trilogy of films until her untimely death last year at the age of 60.
In an interview with GMA from D23, Last Jedi director Rian Johnson talked about picking up Leia’s arc, and took the opportunity to clarify some previous statements about how the character’s story “wraps up nicely” in the new film.
Johnson seems unsure about “wrapping up” Leia, but does believe the movie will provide some catharsis for fans who are still grieving over the loss of Fisher.
Rian Johnson’s hesitancy to commit to the idea that Star Wars: The Last Jedi “wraps up” Leia’s story could be read as leaving the door open on Carrie Fisher returning for Star Wars 9 in some form, CGI or otherwise. Star Wars 9 director Colin Trevorrow has only said that adjusting to the loss of Fisher was very tough and the movie will “honor“ the actress in some way. A behind-the-scenes video from The Last Jedi shown at D23 teased Carrie Fisher’s performance, and a new character poster of Leia was also released.
The new film stars Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley (who plays Rey), John Boyega (who plays Finn) and Gwendoline Christie (who plays Captain Phasma). Newcomers such as Kelly Marie Tran (who plays Rose), Laura Dern (who plays Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo) and Benicio del Toro (who plays DJ).
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set to hit theaters December 15.
