The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker final trailer that premiered Monday night was emotional for a lot of reasons, not least of which was that we again got to see Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia in a tender embrace with Rey. It was another subtle reminder that this will be the last time we see the late actress on the big screen in a galaxy far, far away. Following the release of the trailer, Billy Dee Williams posted a touching tribute to Carrie Fisher. Take a look:
A lot of people probably had Carrie Fisher on their minds following the release of the final trailer for the concluding chapter in the Skywalker Saga. And obviously Billy Dee Williams was one of them. The actor, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, was thinking about and remembering Carrie Fisher and threw out some love for the actress he worked with on The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Billy Dee Williams shared a photo of himself and the actress on the set of a Star Wars movie together on Twitter. Based on Carrie Fisher’s hairstyle in the photo, it looks like it was probably 1980’s Empire. Carrie Fisher looks somewhat surprised to be having her photo taken, while Billy Dee Williams of course looks as effortlessly cool as only he can.
In thinking about Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams remembers her as a force to be reckoned with. It’s highly appropriate for the Star Wars icon to be called a ‘Force’ because as we saw in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and might see in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Leia Organa very much had The Force. The sentiment also accurately reflects who Carrie Fisher was in real life.
Long before ‘strong female character’ became a buzzword, Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia was busy saving herself and everyone else in the Original Trilogy, taking no crap and suffering no fools along the way. It was a personality Princess Leia shared with the actress who played her. Carrie Fisher was a pure firecracker, a hilarious and intelligent person with a colorful personality and a foul mouth. A Force to be reckoned with is an apt description.
So it is especially sad that Carrie Fisher is gone and this will be the last time we see her Princess Leia onscreen. Thankfully J.J. Abrams was able to take advantage of unused footage from the previous two Sequel Trilogy films to bring the character back and bring closure to her story and the Skywalker Saga as a whole.
We will likely see many more Carrie Fisher tributes before and after The Rise of Skywalker releases. The film itself already gave her one with the release of the official poster, on which Carrie Fisher gets top billing.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker blasts into theaters on December 20. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all of this year’s biggest movies.