Director Gareth Edwards cannot bear to rewatch Rogue One: A Star Wars Story because it simply reminds him of the “sad” death of franchise star Carrie Fisher.
The actress, who portrayed Princess Leia in the movie blockbusters, had an image of her younger self recreated digitally for the Star Wars spin-off movie, which opened in cinemas in December (16), just days before Fisher suffered a heart attack and died, aged 60.
Gareth admits the loss hit him hard, as he viewed his prequel to the original film, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, as a “love letter” to Carrie, and he hasn’t been able to enjoy his work since.
“I’ve not really sat and watched the film since the opening weekend, when Carrie was still with us,” he told The Telegraph in a recent interview. “I just feel the whole thing was, to be honest, one big love letter to Carrie.
“What we’re doing with the entire movie is all building to that one moment (of the Death Star plans being handed to Princess Leia), where we hand the baton to her, to go off and make that film that inspired us all as kids. So it couldn’t have ended better from that point of view.”
And he will always regret not getting the chance to officially meet Carrie and discuss the famed franchise together.
“It’s just sad – I was always thinking that I would get to meet her and talk to her at some point about it, and I never really met her properly,” he lamented. “I walked past her once on the set of Episode VII (2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens), I was meeting some of the crew, and she walked past me, and I had a little fanboy freakout.”
However, he will always find comfort in knowing Carrie approved of her digital cameo in Rogue One.
He shared, “When it came to our film, it went so late with that shot, trying to get it right, that Kathy (Kennedy, producer) took it down personally, on a laptop, and showed her. And initially Carrie apparently didn’t realize it was CGI (computer-generated imagery), and wondered if it was footage which we had taken from somewhere else. Which was really reassuring for us.”
Prior to her tragic death, Carrie had completed filming scenes as Princess Leia for The Force Awakens sequel, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which will launch this December (17).
