Carrie Fisher’s ‘Star Wars’ Advice to Daisy Ridley: ‘Don’t Be a Slave Like I Was’
Carrie Fisher is sharing her years of accumulated “Star Wars” wisdom with her new “Force Awakens” co-star Daisy Ridley, including a sage piece of advice about potentially sexist costume choices.
“You should fight for your outfit,” Fisher said in an interview between herself and Ridley for Interview Magazine. “Don’t be a slave like I was.”
“All right, I’ll fight,” Ridley agreed.
“You keep fighting against that slave outfit,” Fisher insisted. She also warned Ridley, “it’s hard to date once you’re a big ‘Star Wars’ star because you don’t want to give people the ability to say, ‘I had sex with Princess Leia.'”
The costume discussion was prompted by Fisher warning Ridley that her life will change once “The Force Awakens” hits theaters: “You’re going to have people have fantasies about you! That will make you uncomfortable, I’m guessing.”
“Yeah, a bit,” Ridley admitted, noting that Fisher has been objectified thanks to her “Star Wars” role. “[Reporters] always talk about how you’re a sex symbol, and how do I feel about that.”
“I am not a sex symbol, so that’s an opinion of someone. I don’t share that,” Fisher insisted.
The two stars also discussed the commodification of their likenesses in merchandise, after Ridley passed a store full of “Star Wars” tie-ins.
“Did you know they’ve come out with ‘Star Wars’ Band-Aids? They sent me a ‘Star Wars’ suitcase,” Fisher told Ridley. “I want you and I to go to Vegas with all the swag and act like we’re normal people carrying ‘Star Wars’ suitcases that they just sent me — hats, dresses. We will be put in a mental asylum, but it will be a very popular one after we get there … You think that’s a joke! It’s going along with being merchandized. You can’t just merchandize us; we’ll merchandize you right back!”
The interview covered many subjects, but Ridley admitted Fisher has always been her “Star Wars” role model, over co-stars Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford.
“Of course, I like them both,” Ridley said. “But you’re a kick-ass woman. You paved the way for all the girls.”
Ridley, who is playing the mysterious Rey in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” said she also isn’t sure of how to prepare herself for what is to come following the release of the movie.
“I liked ‘Star Wars,’ but I wasn’t an uberfan like many people are,” she said. “I don’t know if I can prepare for what’s to come because I don’t know what will come.”
Fisher, reprising her role as Leia Organa in the new film, told Ridley to prepare for the fans that will come out of the woodwork.
“The fan thing is amazing,” Fisher told Ridley. “It’s quite a spectrum.”
“I remember you saying that when you take pictures with people, you can feel their heart racing and it humanizes them,” Ridley recalled.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” opens Dec. 18 and also stars John Boyega, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson.
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