Evangeline Lilly reached out about playing Princess Leia when the current ‘Star Wars’ trilogy was announced.
The 39-year-old star had worked with filmmaker J.J. Abrams on TV drama ‘LOST’, and when she heard he would be at the helm for 2015’s ‘The Force Awakens’ she immediately put a plan in place.
Speaking at Fan Expo Boston, she admitted: ""When JJ [Abrams] was first announced that he was gonna do his first Star Wars film, I reached out to his producing partner, for the first time ever since ‘LOST’ ended, I never requested anything ever before, and I said, ‘I wanna be Leia! Make me Leia!’ "
Of course, the late Carrie Fisher – who passed away in 2016 while filming ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi’ – would reprise her iconic role from the original trilogy in the sequels, and her character is set to get a fitting send-off in the upcoming ninth film in the main saga.
Her brother Todd recently said: "My sister and Princess Leia are the same thing. And the idea of that story stopping and her not carrying forward is very disturbing to me … It is awesome that it worked out this way and, thanks to director J.J. Abrams, this is going to be very magical and important to us all."
Todd is delighted that the ‘Star Wars’ filmmakers have been able to weave the scenes into the new movie.
He told told ET Canada: "It is not easy, I could tell you. For me, I have to watch a lot of these old movies and it is heartbreaking sometimes to see your family that has left us.
"But if you believe in the way our family does, in the ‘Force’, we aren’t really apart at all and she will always be with us. But it is nice when you can put her back up on the screen and continue the story and continue the saga. That is important for all of us."
Evangeline Lilly wanted to play Princess Leia in The Force Awakens
