As a lifelong "Star Wars" fan, few moments in my life have been as exciting as the time I got to sit down with Princess Leia herself for an interview.
Carrie Fisher was here in Chicago back in October 2011 doing her one woman show “Wishful Drinking.” She had seen it all. Fisher came from Hollywood royalty and reached stardom at an early age. But her battles with addiction and mental health were what really made her resilient. She pulled no punches during our 10-15 minute interview—though she did playfully slap me. I accidentally said "Jim" instead of "John" when discussing “The Blues Brothers” comedy legend John Belushi—and she didn’t let me forget.
Fisher was a challenging interview subject; you never knew where the conversation was headed. At one point we began discussing why Princess Leia didn't wear underwear in space. Fisher narrated how George Lucas explained to her that "you go into space and you expand. Your body expands. But your bra doesn't. So, you get strangled by your bra." She went on to explain "...so, George didn't want me to die that humiliating of a death. Death by underwear."
I mean, where do you go from that?
But it was exactly what people loved about her. After our interview, we posed for a photo and she told me "our height differential would make us look perfect on the top of a wedding cake."
She was probably right.
To me, Carrie Fisher was bold and unabashedly honest with the most difficult and sometimes uncomfortably personal subject matter. And she became an icon to young girls who found, through her characters and her personal life that women can be strong, empowered heroes.
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An unforgettable force, gone too soon.
