Mark Hamill Says Carrie Fisher is “Irreplaceable” as Princess Leia

Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016, London, 17 July 2016. Photo by Nils Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock (5771204ff)

Star Wars: Episode IX still hasn’t begun production, but there is already a major buzz around the movie. The latest has been that fans started a petition, which already gathered more than 11,000 signatures, for Meryl Streep to step into the role of Princess Leia and replace the late Carrie Fisher. According to the rumors, the character of Princess Leia is supposed to play a big role in Star Wars: Episode IX, but the original draft of the script had to undergo major rewrites after Fisher passed away.

In a recent interview, Collider decided to ask Mark Hamill, who plays the role of Luke Skywalker in the space saga, to give his own opinion on this matter, and here is what the 66-year-old actor had to say.

“I don’t know what the specific plans were for that character, but since Han was more prominent in VII, Luke was more prominent in VIII, we assumed that Leia would be more prominent in IX, especially with the dynamic of Kylo Ren being her son,” Hamill said. “I think it would be tough recasting because she’s so indelibly linked to that character. They’ve already ruled out the idea of computer generating her performance like they did with Peter Cushing, so gee, that’s got to be a really, not an insurmountable problem, but … I know the script had been developed enough so when we lost her they had to go back to square one. She’s irreplaceable as far as I’m concerned.”

Principal photography for Star Wars: Episode IX will begin in July 2018, with the release date being scheduled for December 20, 2019. J.J. Abrams will direct and serve as a co-writer with Chris Terrio after Colin Trevorrow exited the project in 2017.