There’s a pretty good interview with Carrie Fisher over at Popeater, where she’s doing promotion for her latest book and one-woman act, Wishful Drinking. I’ve liked Fisher post-Star Wars for her bluntness, both on herself and her career, and there’s more of that to be found in the interview. The dialogue runs the gamut from her family, to her breakout in Star Wars, to her post trilogy struggles with bipolar disorder and a drug addiction. Among the topics discussed:
Does it bother you that when you die they’ll run a picture of Princess Leia with the bagels on the side of your head?
No, that would be stupid because that’s what’s going to happen. When I
die and they do the Academy reel, they will show Princess Leia.
Did you think [Star Wars] was going to be a goofy low-rent film?
No, not low-rent at all. The script was fantastic, so I thought I will
like this. It will be this hip little whatever film off to one side.
That’s what I thought. What it did in my opinion was misbehave.
Didn’t you tell people off for publishing unflattering photos of you last year?
They didn’t run unflattering photos. They said I looked like Elton
John. Tell them off, no. My point was a) I’m 53, and b) [I look like
that] because I take medication. This is the worst thing about being
bipolar. It makes you feel better, but then you look like s**t, so
whatever you’ve gained in terms of feeling better you’ve lost because
you look like s**t and in a world where appearance is huge. So I said,
I did not realize that I had signed an invisible contract when I wore
the metal bikini stating that I would stay looking the exact same way
for the rest of my life. I wore the metal bikini 30 years ago, and now
I am killing myself to try to get my body back, but between age and
medications it’s an uphill battle.
The erstwhile Joliet Jake castoff also comments on what it was like to have Elizabeth Taylor as a stepmom, her thoughts on her own performance as a mother, electro shock therapy, President Obama and the Tea Party movement. HBO recently announced that they will be presenting a special on Wishful Drinking soon. You can click over for more.