Way back when the first official details were released about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the thing that really jumped out at me was that Carrie Fisher’s General Leia would be a big part of the movie. Given that she tragically died in early 2017, we all immediately began to wonder how they’d go about this act of cinematic necromancy. The fact that we’d already seen a digital Leia in Rogue One led many to conclude that she’d be CGI, only for director J.J. Abrams to clarify that they were planning to assemble her performance from unused footage from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
Now, in the latest TV spot for The Rise of Skywalker, we get a glimpse of how Leia will appear. You can see her briefly at the eight-second mark, looking vaguely nervous with Resistance fighters in the background. And at least from this brief bit of footage, it appears that they’ve succeeded in their goal of seamlessly recreating her for one last Star Wars adventure.
We got a bit of clarification on their technique from an insider as well recently who explained precisely how the process is going, saying:
“They are combining clips. There will also be no horrible digi-double that was used for Leia in Rogue One. This is all being done in what we call ‘comp.’ There will be some digital work done (aging, hair) so her face and body match, but not the uncanny valley like Tarkin in Rogue One. They will be changing her hair or adding wrinkles as she looked very different between Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.”
It’s a process that’s met with the approval of Fisher’s surviving relatives. Her daughter Billie Lourd is appearing in the film as Lieutenant Connix and explained that she fought to keep her mother in the movie and wanted to honor her memory by working with her one last time. Director J.J. Abrams explained in an interview how aware he was that this was a sensitive moment for Lourd as well, saying: “She would get emotional and sort of have to excuse herself for a minute. I know it was hard for her for a while.”
Here’s hoping Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker provides a touching and worthy capstone to Fisher’s glittering career.
