Ingvild Deila had one of the most important roles in Rogue One, but you’ve probably never heard of her. The Norwegian actress was the person on set whose face was turned into the young Carrie Fisher’s for the film’s climactic scene. While most Star Wars actors aren’t allowed to say much about the films, Deila was sworn to total silence — she couldn’t even say she’d been hired — but now she’s finally speaking out about the role.
It may look like Carrie Fisher but, under the digital effects, that’s Ingvild Deila. Image: Lucasfilm
The UK-based actress just gave her first interview to journalist Jamie Stangroom. Here it is in its entirety but, we’ll discuss some highlights below.
So if you didn’t watch the interview, Deila auditioned for the part without knowing what it was. She was just asked to speak for three minutes about something and be a specific size. It wasn’t until after she found out she got the part that she realised something was odd about it.
“I realised what was actually happening because I was sent two scenes from A New Hope, when Leia meets Vader for the first time, and the hologram monologue,” she said. “I was like ‘Oh my god is this happening?’ Those buns are big. I had the hairy buns. And I had plenty of dots all over my face, like an exotic fish. I looked very strange”
She studied the scenes for a weekend, filmed it, and then waited 18 months for the film to be released before revealing it was her under the work of ILM. In the meantime, people were talking about the film, getting excited for the film, but she was the biggest surprise in the film. She couldn’t say anything.
Stangroom asked Deila about the ethics of digitally recreating a famous actor, which was a big debate when the film was released, and she had a pretty even headed disposition about it.
“I was just thinking ‘What if it was me? How would I feel?’ If they had to pay my living relatives or something, or forced to share the money, then yeah… I mean I’m dead, I don’t care. We just need to establish a system where we do it right by their relatives or what they agreed on.”
Of course, when Deila took the role, Carrie Fisher wasn’t dead. Deila was excited to hear that Fisher liked the performance but also admits, if Fisher had passed away earlier, she may have had reservations.
“It would have been more difficult to say yes,” Deila said. “Also it depends whether she’d been informed. If she was against it then I don’t know if I would have said yes. But if she was fine with it, maybe yeah. It’s hard to know. It would have been way more complicated.”
There’s even more in the interview, including her thoughts on a potential Leia spinoff movie. You can see Deila when Rogue One hits Blu-ray April 5.
[YouTube]