the bright idea

Carrie Fisher on fame & celebrity

From Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher:

Oh, sure, I’d been in plenty of movies, but the films were important, not me. Even with Star Wars, the character I played was famous. We just happened to have similar faces.

I think the idea of coming to terms with being entirely separate from your performance is super interesting. I’m not an actor or performer by any means, but I’ve done a good amount of talent show skits or little on-air blurbs. If I got a laugh, I took credit for it. I felt accomplished. 

Being the performer behind a character as mega-famous as Princess Leia while staying so removed from her (Leia’s) success is fascinating.

I’ll post again about Shockaholic once I finish the book.