As Star Wars: The Force Awakens continues to break box office records, we’ve been reminiscing about the Star Wars of the past, present and future, especially with the slew of recurring stars who played characters in earlier installments reappearing in this 2015 version. One of those roles includes the original Princess Leia, portrayed by actress Carrie Fisher, although the reunion with her famous on-screen counterpart wasn’t always happy.
“They don’t want to hire all of me—only about three-quarters!” Fisher revealed in an interview with Good Housekeeping. According to Today, Fisher talked about how her return to the mega franchise coincided with the pressure that she felt to lose reportedly “more than 35 pounds.”
“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,” she said.
Fisher lost weight through food moderation and good old-fashioned diet and exercise, but she hopes that in the future the entertainment industry can change in terms of the talent they seek: “We treat beauty like an accomplishment, and that is insane,” she told the magazine for their January 2016 cover. “Everyone in L.A. 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!'”
While we know Star Wars fanatics have been happy to see this film, we can only hope Hollywood will feel the same no matter the weight of the person on screen.