‘Star Wars’: Mark Hamill Understands Why Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford Had an Affair — ‘It Happened To Me’
Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford rose to fame thanks to their roles in the Star Wars franchise. The first film, Star Wars: A New Hope, premiered in 1977. Hamill starred as Luke Skywalker, Fisher played Princess Leia Organa, and Ford portrayed Han Solo.
Fisher published her third memoir, The Princess Diarist five weeks before her death in 2016. In the book, Fisher revealed that she had an affair with Ford while filming Star Wars: A New Hope. Even though Hamill was shocked to find out about the affair, it did not surprise him that it occurred.
Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford had an affair
In her lifetime, Fisher wrote multiple novels, screenplays, and memoirs. She wrote The Princess Diarist after finding diaries she kept during the filming of Star Wars: A New Hope. In The Princess Diarist, Fisher revealed that she had an affair with Ford, and the revelation came 40 years after Star Wars: A New Hope premiered.
Fisher was only 19 years old when she took on the role of Leia while Ford was 33 years old at the time. Ford was also married to Mary Marquardt and they had two children together.
According to Fisher, the affair began after George Lucas’ birthday party and lasted for three months. Ford and Fisher ended their affair after filming for Star Wars: A New Hope was completed.
Mark Hamill is not surprised Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford had an affair
After Star Wars: A New Hope, Ford, Fisher, and Hamill went on to star in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in the 1980s. The three cast members then reprised their characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015.
Fisher and Hamill both appeared in Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017 and Hamill, Ford, and Fisher were in 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker with Fisher appearing in the two movies posthumously.
In a 2016 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Hamill revealed that while he did not know the affair occurred, he is not surprised it happened.
“On-set romances are always… they’re commonplace,” he said. “But it’s kind of tricky because if the relationship doesn’t last and you’re on a TV series and you got four more seasons to go, it can be really awkward.”
He added, “It happened to me. I was with a girl who was playing my sister on a soap opera, General Hospital.”
Mark Hamill is glad he didn’t know about the affair
Speaking with ET, Hamill admitted that he most likely would not have noticed Ford and Fisher were having an affair.
“I was so self-involved at that point, they could’ve been doing it in front of me and I wouldn’t have noticed,” Hamill told ET. “I was single and had my own agenda.”
While Hamill did not learn about Fisher and Ford’s affair until Fisher published The Princess Diarist, he thinks it is a good thing he did not know while filming Star Wars: A New Hope.
“But I was blissfully unaware, which was good for me. I think it might have been a distraction if I’d known what was going on,” he said.
