Billie Lourd Once Said Carrie Fisher’s Feelings for Harrison Ford Were ‘so Universal’
Since Carrie Fisher’s 2016 death, her daughter, actor Billie Lourd, has been called upon to speak for her. However, even before she died, Lourd talked about her mom often. The Scream Queens star once explained how her mom opened up about her affair with Star Wars co-star Harrison Ford and how that confession resonated with others.
Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford met while filming ‘Star Wars’
Fisher and Ford broke out with their roles in the 1977 film Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope). The former portrayed Princess Leia Organa, while the latter starred as Han Solo. The characters bicker a lot but fall for one another, becoming the original trilogy’s great love story.
Ford and Fisher worked together on subsequent films Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. They remained friendly throughout the years and later reunited for Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, reprising their roles once more.
Fisher revealed their past in her book ‘The Princess Diarist’
Though their characters’ on-screen romance didn’t blossom until The Empire Strikes Back, Fisher and Ford had an off-screen connection during the filming of A New Hope. In her 2016 book, The Princess Diarist, Fisher shared details from this months-long affair, which occurred while Ford was married to his first wife.
“My affair with Harrison was a very long one-night stand,” Fisher wrote in her memoir. “I was relieved when it ended. I didn’t approve of it myself.” She noted that she “had feelings for him (at least five, but something as many as seven),” and that, from her perspective, “I loved him and he allowed it.”
Billie Lourd says Fisher was ‘absolutely shocked’ at people’s reactions
While promoting The Princess Diarist, the headline for nearly every news outlet centered around the revelation of Ford and Fisher’s relationship. While it was the first time Fisher had spoken about it herself, she was “absolutely shocked when people didn’t know,” according to her daughter, Lourd.
“She thought everyone knew about it,” Lourd said of her mother and The Force Awakens co-star in a video for BUILD Series in 2016. “She’s doing press, and she’s like, ‘I don’t know why they keep asking me about this Harrison stuff. I thought everyone knew?’ I’m like, ‘No, Mom. That was a shocker to everyone.'”
Lourd noted the ‘universal’ nature of Fisher’s feelings
Lourd praised her mother’s work, calling it “so real and good.” “It’s honestly my favorite book she’s ever written because it has diaries from when she’s 19 in it,” the American Horror Story actor said. “She is so self-aware and vulnerable. And it’s so beautiful to read,” Lourd continued, saying she “actually cried while reading it.”
These emotions were shared by those who didn’t know Fisher personally as it relates to her affair with Ford. “Every woman I’ve talked to comes up to me crying like, ‘I totally feel these same feelings,'” said Lourd. “It’s so amazing that she’s written something like this. ‘Cause it’s so universal. It’s just about being in love with someone that’s so unavailable.”
