Why Mark Hamill Would Go Years Without Speaking To Carrie Fisher
Mark Hamill had a special connection with Carrie Fisher while filming multiple movies for the Star Wars franchise. The pair played twins Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker in the films. Their chemistry continued off-screen, as they both stayed in each other’s lives through the years.
In December 2016, Fisher died of cardiac arrest. Hamill spoke about working with Fisher and their friendship one year later.
What Mark Hamill thought about Carrie Fisher when they first met
When Hamill booked Star Wars, he had a few acting credits under his belt. Some of his accolades included shows like General Hospital, The Partridge Family, and One Day at a Time. Once he landed the part of Luke Skywalker, Hamill went to Africa to prepare for the role. After spending time there, Hamill returned to London. In London, Hamill met Harrison Ford, who played Hans Solo. However, he hadn’t met the actor who would play his sibling.
“I said to the production office, ‘I’d like to meet her before we work together,’ Hamill told The Hollywood Reporter. “They worked out that we’d meet for dinner. You know, she was 19 years old at the time. I was a worldly 24. So I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, it’ll be like working with a high school kid.’
Hamill continued to say that Fisher proved him wrong during dinner. He recalled being captivated by Fisher’s maturity at the time. The pair also became close friends quickly, as Hamill said Fisher opened up about her infamous childhood when they first met.
“I was just bowled over. I mean, she was just so instantly ingratiating and funny and outspoken,” Hamill said. “She had a way of just being so brutally candid. I’d just met her but it was like talking to a person you’d known for 10 years.”
Mark Hamill would go ‘years’ without speaking to Carrie Fisher and said she would ‘drive me crazy’
Although Hamill and Fisher were both attracted to each other, they never acted on it during Star Wars. Besides a few “pretexts” that involved Hamill kissing Fisher, he opted not to date his co-stars. Unbeknownst to Hamill, Fisher and Ford had an affair for three months while filming the first Star Wars movie. Fisher later wrote about the relationship with Ford in a memoir, The Princess Diarist.
Even though Hamill and Fisher never officially dated, the actors fought often. In a 2017 interview with The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Hamill said he and Fisher behaved like real siblings. Hamill shared that he would go through bouts of time without speaking to Fisher.
“Carrie used to drive me crazy,” he said. “We were more like siblings than I thought because we would have these huge fights. We wouldn’t see each other for months or even years, and then you would see each other and remind yourself how much fun it was to be together.”
Mark Hamill said he and Carrie Fisher had a love-hate relationship
While Hamill and Fisher often disagreed, he told The Hollywood Reporter that he was “grateful” they remained friends. Decades after Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Fisher and Hamill teamed up again. Fisher returned in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which she filmed several months before she died.
RELATED: Why Carrie Fisher Described Her Affair With Harrison Ford as a ‘3-Month 1-Night Stand’
Hamill said reuniting with Fisher was always bittersweet. He said they would make each other laugh but would also criticize one another.
“I’m grateful that we stayed friends and got to have this second act with the new movies,” Hamill said. “I think it was reassuring to her that I was there, the same person, that she could trust me, as critical as we could sometimes be with each other. We ran the gamut over the years, where we were in love with each other, where we hated each other’s guts. “I’m not speaking to you; you’re a judgmental, royal brat!” We went through it all. It’s like we were a family.”
