Watch ‘Star Wars’ Honor Carrie Fisher at 40th Anniversary Celebration
Star Wars honored Carrie Fisher with a poignant video tribute at Star Wars Celebration, the franchise’s official fan convention. The video played at the end of the 40th anniversary panel, which featured George Lucas, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Hayden Christiansen and Billy Dee Williams.
David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” partly soundtracks the nearly five-minute clip, which is filled with footage from the original Star Wars trilogy, on-set photographs and plenty of behind-the-scenes footage and interview clips that capture Fisher’s keen sense of humor and self-awareness about her celebrity and career. The clip also touches on how important Princess Leia was as a character with Fisher, in one interview saying, “I love these movies, and actually they’ve become better for me now because I have a daughter and she loves them.”
Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, also appeared at the Star Wars 40th anniversary panel, introducing the tribute video while donning a dress not unlike something Princess Leia would have worn. “My mom, like Leia, wasn’t ever afraid to speak her mind and say things that might have made most people uncomfortable, but not me and not you,” Lourd said. “That was why she loved you, because you accepted and embraced all of her.”
Star Wars mastermind George Lucas also spoke about casting Fisher during the panel, recalling, “It was her war and when I cast it, I said I want somebody young to play the part. I want somebody very young. When Carrie came in, she was that character. She was very strong, very smart, very funny, very bold, very tough, and there really wasn’t much of a question. There are not very many people like her. They are one in a billion.”
Watch George Lucas’ Tribute to Carrie Fisher.