George Lucas wanted to cast Jodie Foster in Star Wars, rather than Carrie Fisher.
According to a report by Page Six, the new book by Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg, and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema, reveals that Lucas , 81, had hoped to sign up the then-13-year-old Foster to portray Princess Leia in 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope, the first film in the sci-fi franchise. However, the actress – who had had finished filming 1976 movie Taxi Driver — wasn’t available after joining the cast of a Disney flick.
Per the report, Lucas had also considered Berlin singer Terri Nunn, who was 14 at the time, for the role, However, he ultimately decided to increase the age of the character, which was originally supposed to be a young teenager, effectively ruling Nunn out of the part.
Lucas went on to cast then-19-year-old Carrie — who died in 2016 at age 60.
While the Star Wars creator had found his leading lady, the shoot didn’t go to plan, according to the book.
“None of the special effects worked as [Lucas] hoped,” Paul writes in the tome. “The awe-inspiring world he had invented looked like cheap rubber and plastic.”
“[Mark] Hamill cracked jokes about George’s direction — all he said, it seemed, was ‘faster!’ or ‘more intense!’” he added. “And [Harrison] Ford routinely made fun of the screenplay.”
According to the author, Lucas felt “very, very depressed about the whole shooting experience” after wrapping in July 1976.
In 2024, Foster, 63, opened up about the previous commitments that prevented her from starring in the legendary franchise.
Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she said at the time: “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.”
According to Deadline, it was due to a conflict with 1977 Disney movie Candleshoe.