Carrie Fisher on what she thought would make a 'fantastic' obituary
Carrie Fisher charmed us all in roles like Star Wars' feisty Princess Leia, Shampoo's seductive teen Lorna, and When Harry Met Sally's finally-lucky-in-love Marie—and with the wicked wit she brandished in six books, including memoirs Wishful Drinking and The Princess Diarist. Fans sadly said goodbye to the 60-year-old when she passed away on December 27th, having suffered a heart attack just four days earlier.
Fisher's ready openness made her a beloved celebrity and writer. Her gimlet pen never spared any subject, let alone herself, and in her many writings, she tackled everything from her relationship with her mother, Debbie Reynolds, to her own alcoholism and bipolar disorder.
But one quote resonates particularly today, with its signature good humor and zest. In her 2008 memoir, Wishful Drinking, Fisher recalled a tremendously funny conversation, in which director George Lucas explained why she couldn't wear a bra under her iconic Star Wars costume, a white dress that generations of fans know and love:
"Anyway, George comes up to me the first day of filming and he takes one look at the dress and says, "You can't wear a bra under that dress."
So, I say, "Okay, I'll bite. Why?"
And he says, "Because...there's no underwear in space."
I promise you this is true, and he says it with such conviction too! Like he had been to space and looked around and he didn't see any bras or panties or briefs anywhere. Now, George came to my show when it was in Berkeley. He came backstage and explained why you can't wear your brassiere in other galaxies, and I have a sense you will be going to outer space very soon, so here's why you cannot wear your brassiere, per George. So, what happens is you go to space and you become weightless. So far so good, right? But then your body expands??? But your bra doesn't—so you get strangled by your own bra. Now I think that this would make a fantastic obit—so I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra."
Farewell, Carrie.
This story originally appeared on ELLE.
* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
