Leia Organa’s arc in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was completely unaffected by the death of Carrie Fisher, that much we know, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the Lucasfilm team were able to leave the actress’ final performance as is.
As Rian Johnson revealed in a recent interview with Rolling Stone (with a tip of the hat to Cinema Blend), The Last Jedi sound team were able to flesh out Carrie Fisher’s swan song using ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording) and other ingenious workarounds during post-production.
It’s by no means the first time that Lucasfilm’s editors have worked their magic; for The Force Awakens, those sound designers were able to conjure up the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi using snippets of Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness, who sadly passed away back in 2000. That line, “Rey, these are your first steps,” may well be replayed during Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as Daisy Ridley’s budding Jedi begins her training on Ahch-To.
Regardless, here’s what Johnson had to share about the extra post-production work:
We had to do a lot of sound work and that was kind of tough, but we managed. We have a great sound team and we managed to pull her dialogue out and find little snippets from here and there and make it work. You do what you’ve gotta do.
In related news, one eagle-eyed Star Wars fan has noticed that a member of Canto Bight’s alien race appears oddly similar to Gary the Dog, the French bulldog that once belonged to Fisher. That’s not a coincidence, either, as it turns out they’re one and the same. Yes, that’s right, Rian Johnson has confirmed that he included Gary in The Last Jedi‘s casino scene as a small tribute to the late, great Carrie Fisher. We’re not crying; you’re crying!
https://twitter.com/Gary_TheDog/status/938564650790260736
Star Wars: The Last Jedi officially arrives on December 15th, with Gary in tow.
Published: Dec 7, 2017 03:07 pm