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Steel Notes Magazine and consistently argued with space pirate Han Solo , calling each other names . She was not the standard damsel-in-distress who needed a male to drag her along , heck , she rescues the beaten , worn-out Luke in “ The Empire Strikes Back ” and rescues her man Han , held in frozen carbonite in “ Return of the Jedi .” Through the course of the Skywalker saga , Leia was forthright , honest , caustic and fearless . Pure Carrie .
Carrie Fisher went on to appear in many films , some rather glorious and indelible (“ When Harry Met Sally ”) and some rather lame and unforgivable (“ Under the Rainbow ,” a forgettable Chevy Chase flick involving behindthe-scenes shenanigans during the making of “ The Wizard of Oz ”). Sometimes she held her own with egotistical male movie stars such as the womanizing hairdresser Warren Beatty played in “ Shampoo ” and , of course , the shy Harrison Ford in the “ Star Wars ” flicks , and sometimes she managed to include sly commentary about herself ( such as a brief role as a former actress who bears a resemblance to Carrie Fisher bitching she almost got the Leia role in “ Scream 3 ” if she only slept with George Lucas ). When she played a by-the-Bible-book nun in “ Jay and Silent Bob in Strike Back ” who unintentionally gives off the idea that she wants a sexual tryst with Jay ( Jason Mewes ), Carrie showed how perfect her comic timing was , especially her double take when the goofy Jay goes downstairs . More appropriately , she had a gift for romantic comic timing , as in her brief scenes with the late Bruno Kirby who plays her husband in “ When Harry Met Sally .” During the split-screen moment where Kirby is on the phone and Carrie is on her own phone ( landlines to the rest of you ), the timing ( all shot in one take ) is impeccable including the line the couple both utter simultaneously : “ Do you want to go out for breakfast ?”
and alcohol with varying degrees of success , and also nurtured by marrying singer Paul Simon ( Ha ! I hope she would have liked that line ). Her advocacy for mental illness and for recognition thereof inspired many who had that incurable disorder . But it was also her sharp-as-a-tack humor , her ability to poke fun at herself and her illness (“ I hope to be the cover girl of Psychology Today ”) that kept a lot of us admiring her . Forthright , honest , caustic and fearless . She may have left us for those heavens above and for those galaxies far , far away , but her fans are legion . May the Force always be with her .
Offscreen , Carrie had a bipolar disorder and spoke out on the mental illness that she helped to nurture with drugs ( prescription and otherwise )
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