Here’s what Carrie Fisher thought of the Princess Leia footage in “Rogue One”
You might have your own personal opinions about the ending of Rogue One, but honestly, there’s only one opinion that matters: Carrie Fisher’s.
In a surprising twist, Princess Leia actually showed up at the end of Rogue One. Also, if this is a spoiler, come on, Rogue One made $1.054 billion dollars.
Jyn and her rebels manage to get the Death Star plans away from the Empire, but then they’ve got to get the plans to someone in the Rebellion. That’s where Princess Leia steps in and not only manages to get the plans, she hands them off to R2-D2 and sets in motion the events of Star Wars: A New Hope. The ending of Rogue One and A New Hope maybe take place likeeeee 10 minutes apart? But meanwhile, Rogue One and A New Hope were filmed some 40 years apart, and it was a bit or a process recreating a younger Carrie Fisher.
The late actress gave her blessing to the movie to user her likeness, and for the first time Rogue One’s director, Gareth Edwards, is revealing exactly what our princess general thought of it.
The short answer? Carrie thought that was actually HER up on the big screen. She didn’t realize it was CGI.
“We knew it was a really important moment and we wanted Carrie to be happy, so [Lucasfilm president] Kathy [Kennedy] went to her house with her laptop when we felt the shot was close, if not finished,” Edwards explains. “We had about two weeks left, and Kathy went around her house and everyone was waiting to hear.”
“[Kathy] said she showed it to her and [Carrie] thought it was footage. She didn’t realize it was CGI. She thought we had some footage. She didn’t remember the take and thought we had manipulated a take from the original film. But they told her it was all computer generated and she was really impressed. We were all just so pleased she approved it.”
You know your movie and footage is good when you get Carrie’s blessing. We’re certainly glad to hear that she liked it, which makes it all the more sad that Edwards never actually met her.
“I always thought that I’d meet [Carrie] down the line and be able to talk about this and thank her for it. Sadly, that’s not possible. But I feel like the movie in a way is one big love letter to that moment, and passing that gauntlet to her, and the way she inspired us all as kids.”
She’s gone, but will never be forgotten. For thousands of years to come, Carrie’s going to continue to inspire us — kids and adults alike.
