One of the big reasons why fans were initially excited about Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the prospect of seeing the characters from the original Star Wars trilogy return to the franchise after 30 years. Seeing Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher all back in a galaxy far, far away was something fans had wanted for decades.
Unfortunately, the reunion was cut short. Actress Carrie Fisher passed away on December 27th, 2016, due to a heart attack on a plane flight. Not only did fans across the world mourn her passing, but the then-unfilmed third installment, The Rise of Skywalker, now had to rely on stock footage and edits to incorporate her into the story (and effectively kill the character off).
Nearly eight years later, British singer-songwriter James Blunt, who was friends with Carrie, will release a memoir titled Loosely Based on a Made-Up Story. When appearing at the recent Hey Festival at Hey-on-Wye in Wales to discuss his book, he began reminiscing about his final interactions with her before her passing. He believed that her return to Star Wars contributed to her untimely passing.
“I was with her the day before she died, when she came down to my house. And she’d been really mistreating her body, and she’d just got the job again of being Princess Leia in a new Star Wars movie.“
“So she was really on a high and a positive, but they had applied a lot of pressure on her to be thin. She spoke about the difficulties that women have in the industry, how men are allowed to grow old, and women are certainly not in film and TV.“
“And she really put a lot of pressure on herself, started using drugs again, and by the time she got on the plane, she had effectively killed herself. They say it was heart failure of some kind, but she had taken enough drugs to have a really good party.“
While it is true that Fisher did have traces of cocaine, methadone, ethanol, and opiates in her system at the time of her death, we cannot definitively say whether or not her returning to Star Wars contributed in any way. All we can say is that we wish she were still with us.
What do you think? Did her return to Star Wars contribute to her unfortunate passing? Or was it a coincidence? Let us know your thoughts.
Sources: Variety, Independent
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