In the same interview, Richard E. Grant admits to 'The Project' that he also initially had doubts over the using of the actress' old takes from 2015 film 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'.
- December 17, 2019
AceShowbiz - Director J.J. Abrams remains stunned by the "weirdly miraculous" discovery of unseen footage that enabled late actress Carrie Fisher to star in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker".
When Carrie, who plays Leia in the franchise, tragically passed away in 2016, fans assumed her alter ego had died with her. But thanks to the wonders of modern technology, combined with the discovery of unused takes of the actress from 2015 film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", the late actress also appears in the latest "Star Wars" offering.
And while the decision to include footage of Carrie after her death divided opinion among some fans, director Abrams remains stunned that the unused takes featured the screen star saying almost exactly what they needed her to say.
"The reality that we had the material that was actually her saying things that we needed her to say was vaguely, weirdly miraculous," he said during an interview on the Australian TV show "The Project".
That's not to say that he was able to make the exact film he wanted if Carrie had been alive. Abrams added that if the actress was still around "we would have done a few different things. We would have added some stuff that would have been great."
Seemingly tired of press interviews, he also joked, "And she would be here today which would make the day much more fun."
In the same interview on "The Project", Richard E. Grant, who plays Allegiant General Pryde in the films, revealed his own doubts over using the old footage.
"To kind of exhume that footage from another movie and if it wasn't good enough for the other movie, why should it be good enough for the end?" he mused. "All those caveats or anxieties I had about it were completely put to rest when I saw how they'd done it. It is seamless."
