Category: people

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Some of the internet’s best Carrie Fisher tributes

There’s so much to say about Carrie Fisher, and so much out there that I can’t claim for this to be anywhere near comprehensive. But here are a few of my favorite tributes:

The Establishment’s Anne Theriault: General Leia Organa Is The Hero We Need Right Now

Like Fisher, Leia earned every tiny ounce of respect that came her way. She was given the title of princess because of who her parents were, but she earned the rank of general through hard and often miserable work. We love the mythos that heroes get where they are because they are special or chosen, and the people we hold up as icons reflect that. But the rebel army isn’t made up of Jedis—for the most part it’s just ordinary people united to fight for the same cause. And Leia, in spite of having once been royalty and maybe having some ability with the Force, is mostly as ordinary as any other soldier; she rose through the ranks not by manipulating the Force but by learning leadership skills and military tactics.

Simply put: Leia got to where she was by showing up and quietly learning to do the work.

The Guardian’s Merope Mills: My time with Carrie Fisher, a hurricane of energy, charisma and foul language

[The Force Awakens] had just been released, and Carrie had quickly become everyone’s favourite part of the promotional tour. She shot down anyone who asked about her weight loss for the role and had recently asked, via Twitter, for everyone to stop debating whether or not she had aged well – as it hurt “all three of my feelings”.

Like everything Carrie said or did, that tweet revealed a truth – she told me she hated the way she looked in that film and suddenly, unexpectedly, she was in tears.

Minutes later she was in high spirits, plotting to tweet an old photo she had unearthed from the first set of Star Wars in which she was cupping C-3PO’s balls. “This is going to get me in trouble with the people at Disney,” she said, while I held the pic steady and she snapped, “but I don’t care.”

Former assistant Byron Lane:

Most of my time with her involved me staring at her, wide-eyed and in blissful shock that one person could live a life so fully. We rode dog sleds in Canada, swam hot springs in Japan, pet koalas in Australia. That’s how she lived. Extraordinary. Brilliant. Hilarious.

The Washington Post’s Alexandra Petri: So long, Princess, and thanks

You could always tell there was a real human being in there beneath the silly space hair — one with a sharp wit and an observer’s eye. She did not take fame seriously, and through her writings demystified it, often hilariously. She shared too, with warmth and courage, her experiences of loss and mental illness. Her life was an open book, and it was fantastically well-written.

Jenny Lawson: Stay afraid. But do it anyway.

When I’m on book tour I spend a lot of time with drivers who take me from airports to bookstores to hotels to new cities. They usually work for the book companies and they see all sorts of interesting people in their work so I always ask them, “Who is the best person you’ve ever driven?” and “Who is the worst?” I always promise not to share the worst but frankly there should be an entire book written by drivers who have seen entirely too much of the worst of people (because it is fascinating) but my favorite stories are always the ones about the best people. I’ve probably asked over 100 drivers who their favorite person they spent time with was and so far only a single person has been mentioned more than once…Carrie Fisher.

John Scalzi for The Los Angeles Times on Carrie Fisher as a writer: Witty and vulnerable, she took us to the edge of our comfort zone:

“I feel I’m very sane about how crazy I am,” Fisher wrote in “Wishful Drinking,” directly after describing “being invited” to go to a mental hospital. That was part of the charm of her writing: it would take you places you might not have wanted to go, and kept up a stream of chatter to help you remain, if not comfortable, at least comforted. Your friend Carrie Fisher was with you, even as she was observing herself.

And yes, those much-vaunted edits to The Empire Strikes Back floating around are indeed director Irvin Kershner’s, not Carrie’s. But that doesn’t distract from her own accomplishments, which /Film’s Peter Sciretta has documented.

There’s plenty more on our Tumblr, but this may be my favorites – and takes I think Carrie herself would have approved of:

http://rachsolo.tumblr.com/post/155084647358

http://medie.tumblr.com/post/155096840302/akamarykate-thefilmstage-rip-debbie

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“She wanted to be with Carrie:” Debbie Reynolds dies at 84

Debbie Reynolds passed away Wednesday, only a day after her daughter Carrie Fisher. “She wanted to be with Carrie,” son Todd Fisher told Variety.

From last year, Carrie presents Debbie with her Lifetime Achievement Award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards:

Todd later posted this tribute:

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“Feisty, wise and full of hope:” Carrie Fisher dies at age 60

Carrie Fisher has passed away after her heart attack last week, People reports based on a statement from her daughter, Billie Lourd.

“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning,” reads the statement.

“She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”

Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy: “Carrie holds such special place in the hearts of everyone at Lucasfilm it is difficult to think of a world without her. She was Princess Leia to the world but a very special friend to all of us. She had an indomitable spirit, incredible wit, and a loving heart. Carrie also defined the female hero of our age over a generation ago. Her groundbreaking role as Princess Leia served as an inspiration of power and confidence for young girls everywhere. We will miss her dearly.”

George Lucas: “Carrie and I have been friends most of our adult lives. She was extremely smart; a talented actress, writer and comedienne with a very colorful personality that everyone loved. In Star Wars she was our great and powerful princess – feisty, wise and full of hope in a role that was more difficult than most people might think.”

Disney CEO Bob Iger: “Carrie Fisher was one-of-a-kind, a true character who shared her talent and her truth with us all with her trademark wit and irreverence.”

Mark Hamill: “It’s never easy to lose such a vital, irreplaceable member of the family, but this is downright heartbreaking. Carrie was one-of-a-kind who belonged to us all- whether she liked it or not. She was OUR Princess, damn it, & the actress who played her blurred into one gorgeous, fiercely independent & ferociously funny, take-charge woman who took our collective breath away. Determined & tough, but with a vulnerability that made you root for her & want her to succeed & be happy. She played such a crucial role in my professional & personal life, & both would have been far emptier without her. I am grateful for the laughter, the wisdom, the kindness & even the bratty, self-indulgent crap my beloved space-twin gave me through the years. Thanks Carrie. I love you, mh”

Harrison Ford: “Carrie was one-of-a-kind…brilliant, original. Funny and emotionally fearless. She lived her life, bravely… My thoughts are with her daughter Billie, her mother Debbie, her brother Todd, and her many friends. We will all miss her.”

Daisy Ridley: “Devastated at this monumental loss. How lucky we all are to have known her, and how awful that we have to say goodbye.”

Oscar Isaac: “She had no patience for pretense or small talk. She saw through things, at a different angle, with the gritty wisdom that comes from the hardest lessons. And, man, did she make me laugh.”


https://twitter.com/isDARTHVADER/status/813826559211606016

In addition to her most famous role, Fisher was also an author and script doctor. Her last book, The Princess Diarist, came out last month.

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Mom: Carrie Fisher “stable” after heart attack

Carrie Fisher had a “cardiac episode” – which some reports are calling a heart attack – on a plane en route from London to Los Angeles this afternoon. Her brother Todd told Variety that she’s in the ICU, but they don’t know much yet. “There’s nothing new from the doctors. There’s nothing new at all. There’s no good news or bad news.”

UPDATE: Debbie Reynolds, Carrie’s mother, tweeted Sunday that she’s now in stable condition.

Fisher was attended to by nurses and airline staff on the plane and then rushed to UCLA Medical Center by paramedics. There are more details at the Hollywood Reporter.

Fisher was in London promoting her new book, The Princess Diarist.

News of Fisher’s condition drew supportive tweets from co-stars and colleagues:

The hashtag #prayersforcarrie was trending on Twitter Friday evening.

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It’s weird Adam Driver photoshoot season

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With Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson and Martin Scorsese’s Silence on the horizon, tis the season for weird Adam Driver photoshoots. There are no goats this time, but that is a seriously gross bathroom, Interview Magazine. (Vulture calls it an “abandoned toilet dungeon,” which makes it sound only more Kylo Ren appropriate.) They only touch on Star Wars a little, but the actual interview, with director Noah Baubach, is a good read.

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Out this week: The Princess Diarist, Han Solo, Star Wars and Vader, collected

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Carrie Fisher’s latest memoir, The Princess Diarist, is out Tuesday. It’s already created a few waves with her admission that she and Harrison Ford did indeed have a Star Wars fling.

There’s also two new comics and a trade collection coming for Star Wars comic fans on Wednesday. Han Solo #5 concludes the miniseries, while Star Wars #24 also concludes an arc. The trade is the fourth and final collection of the Darth Vader series, collecting issues #20-25.

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Yes, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford had a thing

ANH: Han and Leia

In her new book, The Princess Diarist, Carrie Fisher admits that she and Harrison Ford had an affair while filming the first Star Wars.

And thousands of Star Wars fans cried out: “We know!” (Or, well, suspected, as it’s been insinuated by Fisher and others many times in recent years.)

The Princess Diarist“I didn’t say anything to anybody for years but it’s not like anyone’s deeply affected by it anymore,” Fisher told People magazine. At the time, Ford was 33 and married with two kids; Fisher was 18.

Radar got their hands on an early copy of the book and are spilling more details, but Fisher is urged journalists to “read the book before they write their stories” in a follow-up with People.

Fisher did give Ford a heads-up and a draft of the book, but he has yet to comment. (Don’t hold your breathe.)

The Princess Diarist is out next Tuesday.