Carrie Fisher: I Felt Pressured To Lose Weight For Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Actor tells Hollywood has changed little in the 38 years since she was first asked to lose weight to play Princess Leia
Carrie Fisher has uncovered she felt pressured to lose weight in order to reprise her role as Princess Leia Organa in the new Star Wars movie The Force Awakens. Fisher, 59, tells she felt obliged to lose 16 kg( 2st7lbs ), and directed criticism at the insane image obsession of Hollywood.
The actor suggested Hollywood remains an image-conscious place, virtually four decades after she was told to lose weight as a 19 -year-old ingenue preparing for her role in 1977 s Star Wars. They dont want to hire all of me only about three-quarters! Nothing changes, its an appearance-driven thing, the actor and novelist told Good Housekeeping magazine. Im in a business where the only thing that matters is weight and appearance. That is so messed up. They might as well tell get younger, because thats how easy it is.
She continued by saying she had a hard time reconciling her weight loss with the altered in attitudes it inspired from those in the industry: When I do lose the weight, I dont like that it attains me feel good about myself. Its not who I am, she said. My problem is they talk to me like an actress, but I hear them like a novelist We treat beauties like an accomplishment and that is insane.
Everyone in LA tells, Oh you seem good, and you listen for them to say youve lost weight. Its never How are you? or You seem happy.
Fisher told Good Housekeeping she had lost the weight for the cinema by eating less and exerting more. There is no other way to do it. I have a harder time eating properly than I do exerting. Its easier for me to add an activity than to deny myself something, said Fisher.
The news of Fishers weight loss arrives as JJ Abrams, the director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has said he hopes to transform the space opera from a boys thing to a female-friendly franchise. Speaking on US show Good Morning America, Abrams echoed previous suggestions by the producer and Lucasfilm chairman Kathleen Kennedy that the new cinema will place more emphasis on female characters.
Star Wars was always a boys thing, and a movie that dads could take their sons to, Abrams said. And although that is still very much the lawsuit, I was actually hoping this could be a movie that mothers could take their daughters to as well.
The Force Awakens surely boasts more female results than any of the earlier movies in the franchise. As well as Fisher returning to the fold, one of the main characters will be Rey, played by relative unknown Daisy Ridley. Lupita Nyongo will also play the ancient space pirate Maz Kanata while Gwendoline Christie will take the role of warrior Captain Phasma. Fishers character of Princess Leia will also now be known as Resistance leader General Organa, reflecting her promotion from a lowly Rebel Alliance fighter.
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has also said she had no doubt there will be a female director of Star Wars in the future. In October she said definitively: We will hire a woman who is going to direct a Star Wars movie.
Read more: www.theguardian.com
Carrie Fisher: I Felt Pressured To Lose Weight For Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Carrie Fisher: I Felt Pressured To Lose Weight For Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Carrie Fisher: I Felt Pressured To Lose Weight For Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Carrie Fisher: I Felt Pressured To Lose Weight For Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Carrie Fisher: I Felt Pressured To Lose Weight For Star Wars: The Force Awakens