Carrie Fisher portrayed, the iconic princess-turned-general, Leia Organa, across five
Star Wars films. She sadly passed away in December of 2016 at the age of 60.
In response to this; a subset of
Star Wars fans are petitioning for three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep to be cast as the new Leia in
Star Wars: Episode IX.
The petition, launched ahead of Star Wars: The Last Jedi's theatrical debut in December, has since gained support from over 7,800 signees - putting the online petition within reach of its 8,000 signature goal. The petition is addressed to Disney, Lucasfilm, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, and Episode IX co-writer and director J.J. Abrams. It reads:
After the death of Carrie Fisher, there have been a lot of uncertainties in how STAR WARS Episode IX is going to deal with Leia. As Lucasfilm claimed that they have no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher with CGI in STAR WARS Episode IX, the more possible solutions are to recast Leia or to write her out of the film.
As Lucasfilm claimed that they have no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher with CGI in STAR WARS Episode IX, the more possible solutions are to recast Leia or to write her out of the film.
As the fans of STAR WARS and Carrie Fisher, we really want Leia to shine in Episode IX and we certainly do not want her to be written out of the film abruptly without a reasonable plot. Therefore, recasting Leia is a more ideal option for us and we believe that Meryl Streep is an ideal candidate to play Leia.
A personal friend of Fisher's, Streep honored the departed actress during the 2017 Golden Globes ceremony by recalling a quote attributed to Fisher: "Take your broken heart, make it into art."
Streep once famously played a version of Carrie Fisher in Postcards from The Edge, and already has some insight into Carrie Fisher's mind space when it comes to inhabiting this particular sci-fi icon.
What do you think would be the best way to solve this conudrum? Would you be okay with Streep taking over in the role?