LOS ANGELES, Dec. 2 (UPI) — Carrie Fisher was pressured to lose weight for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’
The 59-year-old actress revealed as much in an interview for the January issue of Good Housekeeping U.K. Fisher will reprise Princess Leia in the forthcoming film, nearly 40 years after she first portrayed the character in the 1977 movie ‘Star Wars.’
“They don’t want to hire all of me — only about three-quarters!” she quipped. “Nothing changes: it’s an appearance-driven thing. I’m in a business where the only thing that matters is weight and appearance. That is so messed up. They might as well say get younger, because that’s how easy it is!”
“I did it the same way everybody has to — don’t eat and exercise more!” she shared. “And when I do lose the weight, I don’t like that it makes me feel good about myself. It’s not who I am. My problem is they talk to me like an actress, but I hear them like a writer.
Fisher famously wore a metal bikini at age 25 in the 1983 sequel ‘Return of the Jedi,’ and recently instructed ‘Star Wars’ newcomer Daisy Ridley to “fight for [her] outfit,” advising, “Don’t be a slave like I was … You keep fighting against that slave outfit.”
“We treat beauty like an accomplishment, and that is insane,” she told Good Housekeeping. “Everyone in LA says, ‘Oh, you look good,’ and you listen for them to say you’ve lost weight. It’s never, ‘How are you?’ or, ‘You seem happy!'”
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ opens in theaters Dec. 18, and co-stars Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver. Harrison Ford, who will reprise Han Solo in the film,’declared the movie “wonderful” during an appearance Tuesday on ‘Good Morning America.’
