Credit: Far Out / Riccardo Ghilardi
Mon 10 August 2026 3:30, UK
Despite spending her career showcasing her multitude of talents in several different arenas, Carrie Fisher will always be remembered as Star Wars‘ Princess Leia first and foremost, and she was fine with that.
Harrison Ford has always given off the impression that Han Solo was more hassle than he was worth, and he’s clearly got a much softer spot for Indiana Jones, but Fisher never shied away from her defining role. In fact, she even let Mark Hamill have it when he tried to downplay his Luke Skywalker associations.
When she went to see him performing on Broadway, she noticed that in his biography in the playbill, Hamill had listed that he was “known for a series of popular space movies,” even though everyone knew what they were. Chastising him, Fisher told him, “Get over yourself: you’re Luke Skywalker, I’m Princess Leia; embrace it.”
She knew it was an inescapably iconic role, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that she was also an accomplished writer and author, an occasional screenwriter, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated script doctors, a prolific actor, and a razor-sharp mind. Fisher made dozens of movies that weren’t set in a galaxy far, far away, but when it came to her personal favourites, one of them had to make the cut.
“I loved The Empire Strikes Back,” the star said, as does everyone else who likes Star Wars, but there was a caveat. “Not to do with my performance,” she added. “But because I was in the thread and weave of the story, I was happy to have participated.” As for the other three, they were all comedically inclined.
Hannah and Her Sisters left an impression, mostly “because Woody Allen is a really great writer,” which his three Academy Awards for screenwriting can attest, no matter how questionable and despicable a human being he may be, with Fisher adding the exclamation point by declaring, “I loved that film!”
Most actors, when pressed to name the best films they’ve ever been in, would focus on their most grandstanding performances, or the three-dimensional, fully-realised characters they’ve played, who gave them the chance to sink their teeth into something complex, complicated, and dynamic.
Further reading: Cutting Room Floor
Not Fisher, though, because the final two faces on her self-appointed Mount Rushmore were both supporting parts, and one of them was an uncredited cameo. “I had a great time making The ‘Burbs, and the Austin Powers film,” she offered. “Those films, I think, are good films.”
Fisher was only in one scene of Mike Myers’ hit comedy as a therapist trying to work through the issues between Dr Evil and his son, Scott, but that was more than enough to make it one of her all-time favourite roles, which goes to show how much fun she had shooting it.
