Starring as Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" film trilogy, Carrie Fisher told Good Housekeeping U.K. that she was pressured to lose weight for her appearance in the seventh installment, "The Force Awakens."
"They don't want to hire all of me — only about three-quarters!" she told the magazine for its January cover story, whose highlights were published online Monday and whose print edition arrived on newsstands Tuesday. "Nothing changes: it's an appearance-driven thing. I'm in a business where the only thing that matters is weight and appearance. That is so messed up. They might as well say 'Get younger,' because that's how easy it is."
Fisher, 59, was 20 when the first installment (and fourth chapter) of the "Star Wars" franchise arrived in 1977. For "The Force Awakens," which arrives in theaters nationwide Dec. 18, she was pressured to lose "more than 35" pounds, according to the publication.
"I did it the same way everybody has to — don't eat and exercise more!" she told the magazine. "There is no other way to do it. I have a harder time eating properly than I do exercising. It’s easier for me to add an activity than to deny myself something. And when I do lose the weight, I don’t like that it makes me feel good about myself. It’s not who I am. My problem is they talk to me like an actress, but I hear them like a writer."
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Fisher wants more people in Hollywood, and likely elsewhere, to see beyond the superficial.
"We treat beauty like an accomplishment, and that is insane," she said. "Everyone in L.A. says, 'Oh, you look good,' and you listen for them to say you’ve lost weight. It's never 'How are you?' or 'You seem happy!'"
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