Star Wars
Jodie Foster could have been Star Wars’ Princess Leia, but she turned down the role
Back when she was only 14, Jodie Foster was offered the role of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars, which could have given us a very different franchise.
The character of Leia Organa took shape as George Lucas was writing the script for the first ‘Star Wars’ film. The princess of Alderaan was played by Carrie Fisher, at the young age of 19. However, the rumor that Jodie Foster was close to landing the role has been floating around the internet for a long time. In an interview conducted on the ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ (via The Hollywood Reporter), the presenter asked the award winning actress about the veracity of this information. The protagonist of the new season of ‘True Detective’ admitted that yes, it’s true that she was offered the role, although she had to reject it.
“I was [offered the role], yeah. They were going for a younger Princess Leia but I had a conflict. I was doing a Disney movie and I just didn’t want to pull out of the Disney movie because I was already under contract.” Foster was about 13 or 14 years old at that time, so Leia would have been a young girl, a very different character from the one portrayed in the classic trilogy. “And they did an amazing job. I don’t know how good I would have been. I might have had different hair. I might have gone with a pineapple” ( a joke regarding Leia’s hairstyle in ‘A New Hope’).
Leia, much more than a princess
Princess Leia is one of the most important characters in the ‘Star Wars’ universe. Daughter of Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala, she lived her childhood far from the truth about her parents, since she was adopted by Queen Breha and Senator Bail Organa. Since she was a child she was educated in the principles of diplomacy and politics, although the galaxy had already fallen into the hands of Darth Sidius. After the success of the Rebellion, she married with Han Solo, continued fighting against the remnants of the Empire, while continuing her activity as a senator, until his father’s true identity was discovered by the rest of the galaxy. Later, converted into a general, she led the Resistance against the First Order.
In both Legends and canon, Leia was trained by Luke Skywalker and ended up becoming a Jedi. ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ made this another path for the princess, senator and general.