The passing of Carrie Fisher puts a very sad cloud over the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It’s the last time we’ll see Fisher in her iconic General Leia role, but according to a new story, she’s passing along some of her knowledge to a fan favourite.
Image: Entertainment Weekly
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Oscar Isaac revealed that a major part of Leia’s story in The Last Jedi has to do with her relationship to Poe Dameron.
“Poe is in some ways a surrogate son for Leia,” Isaac said. “But also I think she sees in him the potential for a truly great leader of the Resistance and beyond.”
With the Resistance in shambles after the destruction of the Republic, Leia looks to Poe as a possible leader for the group.
“Poe’s arc is one of evolving from a heroic soldier to a seasoned leader, to see beyond the single-mindedness of winning the battle to the larger picture of the future of the galaxy,” Isaac continued. “I think Leia knows she won’t be around forever and she, with tough love, wants to push Poe to be more than the badass pilot, to temper his heroic impulses with wisdom and clarity.”
That relationship continued off camera, too. Isaac told EW a touching, but heartbreaking story of his time with Fisher on the set.
One of my favourite things that would happen from time to time on set would be when Carrie would sing old songs. Whenever that would happen I would offer her my hand and we would waltz around the set — on a starship, in a Rebel base, on an alien planet, and she would sing and we would dance. So surreal and beautiful to think about now. For all of her delicious, wicked humour and fiery energy she also had such sweet grace. I miss her dearly.
As for how Fisher’s passing would play out in the film, director Rian Johnson said that he hopes fans will be pleased.
There’s no way that we could’ve known this would have been the last Star Wars movie she would be in, so it’s not like we made the film thinking that we were bringing closure to the character. But watching the film, there’s going to be a very emotional reaction to what she does in this movie.
Read more about Leia’s role in the film at the below link. Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens December 14.