Carrie Fisher Shared How Her Affair With Harrison Ford Affected Their Chemistry on ‘Star Wars’
One month before her untimely death in December 2016, Carrie Fisher released a memoir titled The Princess Diarist. In the book, Fisher revealed she and Harrison Ford engaged in a three-month affair. The news came after they appeared in several Star Wars films and promoted them on tour.
Fisher shared how the secret relationship between her and Ford affected their day jobs in November 2016.
Carrie Fisher wrote about her affair with Harrison Ford in her diary while filming the first ‘Star Wars’ movie
Fisher played Princess Leia in Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope in 1977. The character gave Fisher the opportunity to play a lead. When the actor arrived in London to shoot Star Wars, Fisher met Ford. She said she fell for him almost instantaneously but didn’t think Ford had feelings for her. Ford proved Fisher wrong in 1976 when they both went to a pub for director George Lucas’ birthday. The Indiana Jones star whisked Fisher into the back of his car, where the pair kissed for the first time. At the time, Ford married his college sweetheart. Their kiss came as a surprise to Fisher, as they had a 15-year age difference.
“One of the things I knew when Harrison and I met was that nothing of a romantic nature would happen,” she wrote in her memoir. “It wasn’t even an issue. There were plenty of guys out there who were single whom I could date without needing to dip into the married guy pool. He was also far too old for me- almost fifteen years older!”
During the affair, Fisher documented her feelings about Ford in a diary. She wrote about how she imagined Ford leaving his wife and giving her an engagement ring with “Carrison” engraved. However, Fisher knew Ford was “inaccessible” and would go back to his family once filming ended. Ford didn’t divorce his ex-wife, Mary Marquardt, until two years after his affair with Fisher.
Carrie Fisher believed her affair with Harrison Ford helped their on-screen chemistry
Although a romantic relationship never worked out between them, Fisher and Ford continued to work together. Neither Fisher nor Ford spoke about their affair with their Star Wars family. Fisher said in an NPR interview that working with Ford became easier after they started sneaking around.
“I think it made us more comfortable with one another,” Fisher said. “I think it made me more able to wisecrack to him. Even if I was insecure, we were having an affair, so there was something to base some security on. I don’t know.”
Fisher also said the chemistry between her and Ford resonated in real life as well.
“Well, we were – there was chemistry there, and you can see it,” she continued. “So I don’t know which came first – the chemistry in the film or the chemistry in the world.”
Carrie Fisher told Harrison Ford about her memoir before it published
Following the success of the first Star Wars movie, Fisher and Ford remained in each other’s lives. The actors starred in several more Star Wars films together through the years. While promoting their last movie together, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Fisher said on NPR that she told Ford she intended to write a book. At the time, Fisher had just unearthed the diary that documented their romance. Fisher told the host that she also let Ford look through the memoir before publishing it.
While she always intended to distribute the memoir, Fisher said she didn’t want to “ambush” Ford. Fisher also felt she didn’t negatively represent her former lover.
“I don’t think it’s that revealing, or it’s certainly not offensive,” she said. “It’s not unkind about him. It’s flattering. I mean, the way people are reacting to it is funny to me, too. I’d do him at 73.”
