Despite her tragic death in 2016 at age 60, Carrie Fisher returned as Leia Organa in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Director and co-writer J.J. Abrams revealed that her appearance in the film was achieved thanks to previously unused footage from the production of The Force Awakens, but one sequence in the film demanded a different approach.
*Mild spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker below*
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, ILM Visual Effects Supe
Despite her tragic death in 2016 at age 60, Carrie Fisher returned as Leia Organa in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Director and co-writer J.J. Abrams revealed that her appearance in the film was achieved thanks to previously unused footage from the production of The Force Awakens, but one sequence in the film demanded a different approach.
*Mild spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker below*
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, ILM Visual Effects Supervisor Patrick Tubach explained how a flashback scene utilized Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd. The moment saw Mark Hamill play a digitally de-aged version of Luke Skywalker, while Lourd acted as a stand-in for her late mother. "Billie was playing her mother," said Tubach. "It was a poignant thing, and something that nobody took lightly—that she was willing to stand in for her mom."
The scene doesn't last long, but both Abrams and Tubach felt it was important that it made the final cut. Co-writer Chris Terrio, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, said that Fisher's likeness from Return of the Jedi was used in order to achieve the believeable look.
“It was an emotional thing for everybody to see her in that position," Tubach continued. "It felt great for us, too. If you’re going to have someone play [Fisher’s] part, it’s great that it’s [Billie Lourd] because there are a lot of similarities between them that we were able to draw from. The real challenge was just making the Leia footage we had to work with fit in that scene."
Lourd, who appears in the Star Wars sequel trilogy as Lieutenant Connix, said it was "one of the most painful, difficult things" she's done in her career to continue to appear in Star Wars films without her mother. "The truth is that Carrie was a friend of J.J. and Billie is a friend of J.J," Tubach said. "They talked a lot about that, and I think the heart of it is the utmost respect for Carrie and her memory and her performance."
rvisor Patrick Tubach explained how a flashback scene utilized Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd. The moment saw Mark Hamill play a digitally de-aged version of Luke Skywalker, while Lourd acted as a stand-in for her late mother. "Billie was playing her mother," said Tubach. "It was a poignant thing, and something that nobody took lightly—that she was willing to stand in for her mom."
The scene doesn't last long, but both Abrams and Tubach felt it was important that it made the final cut. Co-writer Chris Terrio, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, said that Fisher's likeness from Return of the Jedi was used in order to achieve the believable look.
“It was an emotional thing for everybody to see her in that position," Tubach continued. "It felt great for us, too. If you’re going to have someone play [Fisher’s] part, it’s great that it’s [Billie Lourd] because there are a lot of similarities between them that we were able to draw from. The real challenge was just making the Leia footage we had to work with fit in that scene."
Lourd, who appears in the Star Wars sequel trilogy as Lieutenant Connix, said it was "one of the most painful, difficult things" she's done in her career to continue to appear in Star Wars films without her mother. "The truth is that Carrie was a friend of J.J. and Billie is a friend of J.J," Tubach said. "They talked a lot about that, and I think the heart of it is the utmost respect for Carrie and her memory and her performance."
