Oscar winner Jodie Foster has shared why she passed on playing Princess Leia in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
While promoting HBO‘s True Detective: Night Country during a guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Foster confirmed the internet rumor that she was in the running for Leia following her breakout performance in Martin Scorsese‘s Taxi Driver.
“Yeah. I was, yeah,” Foster said. “They were going for a younger Princess Leia but I had a conflict. I was doing a Disney movie and I just didn’t want to pull out of the Disney movie because I was already under contract. So I didn’t do it. And they did an amazing job. I don’t know how good I would have been.”
Early development on Star Wars called for Princess Leia to be a spoiled teenager with young actresses including Foster, Amy Irving (Carrie), and Cindy Williams (American Graffiti) in contention for the role. In the end, director George Lucas cast then 19-year-old Carrie Fisher, who went on to become an instant cinematic icon for the remainder of the Star Wars franchise. Foster, meanwhile, took up the 1977 Disney comedy Freaky Friday and went on a long career hiatus to pursue her education until her resurgence with her Oscar-winning performance in 1988’s The Accused.
Carrie Fisher confirmed the Jodie Foster story in 2015
While promoting Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, Fisher confirmed to The Daily Beast that Foster was up for Leia while dismissing rumors about her friend Meryl Streep as one of the finalists in the running. “I’ve never heard that one. But Jodie Foster was up for it… that one I knew the most. Amy Irving and Jodie. And I got it,” Fisher said.
New episodes of Foster’s True Detective: Night Country air on Sundays on HBO and stream on Max. All nine Star Wars movies are streaming on Disney+.
