Rian Johnson discusses Carrie Fisher’s final performance as Leia in The Last Jedi

Carrie Fisher’s final performance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi will cause an emotional response, says director Rian Johnson…

There will be tears flowing aplenty when Carrie Fisher appears for the last time, as Princess/General Leia Organa when Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters this December. The film’s director Rian Johnson talked to Entertainment Weekly’s Anthony Breznican about the Star Wars icon’s final performance as Leia.

Despite the death of Han Solo, Leia remains a beacon of hope throughout the galaxy. Johnson says Leia just keeps moving forward.

"Her character to some degree or another has been defined by loss through this whole saga, starting with the loss of her home planet. She’s just taken hit after hit, and she’s borne it."

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Leia’s Resistance continues to move forward as well, but the group is not the Republic, and it won’t be attempting to “fill the void” left by the Republic after the First Order destroyed Hosnian Prime, in The Force Awakens.

"They’re a small band that’s now cut off, on its own, and hunted when the Republic is shattered. When the First Order did that hit, the Resistance is isolated, and they’re very, very vulnerable. That’s where we pick them up."

Fisher won’t be the only Resistance leader in The Last Jedi, as Laura Dern’s Admiral Holdo will turn up the heat on the Resistance, according to Johnson, who says there is a reason behind the secrecy of Dern’s character.

"Everybody is put in a pressure cooker right away, and relationships crack and strain under that pressure."

Lucasfilm has stated that Star Wars: Episode IX will go on without Carrie Fisher, after her unexpected death in 2016, and  Johnson discussed her performance as Leia in The Last Jedi, a performance that will be her last as the iconic Princess turned General.

The director says he didn’t make the film with closure in mind, for Leia, so we’ll be waiting until Episode IX to see how Colin Trevorrow will send her off, without Fisher being onscreen. However, Johnson did leave this little gem for us to obsess over until December:

"But watching the film, there’s going to be a very emotional reaction to what she does in this movie."

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Well, ladies and gentlemen, looks like we’ll be needing plenty of tissue when Carrie Fisher gives her final performance as Leia in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, on December 15.