Carrie Fisher’s final screen performance reminds us how much we miss her

It’s been six and a half years since Carrie Fisher died (2016 was a crappy year for celebrity deaths, you may recall), just six weeks after wrapping what would be her final project, an urban fantasy film titled Wonderwell. If you haven’t heard of it, that’s probably because it never had any kind of commercial release—until now. After gathering dust on the proverbial shelf for seven years, Wonderwell is finally coming to select theaters for a limited time beginning June 23.

The official synopsis describes the film thusly: “A coming-of-age fairy-tale set between modern-day Italy and the fantastical realm just beyond, Wonderwell follows Violet, a naive and inquisitive 12-year-old girl, on a thrilling adventure that transforms her life forever.” Fisher plays Hazel, a witch who encounters Violet in the woods and introduces her to a world of magic. The film also stars Rita Ora as Yana, a fashion designer who also happens to be a witch.

As much as we love Carrie Fisher, we can’t say our hopes are high for this film. For one thing, the timing of the premiere is odd, considering how many other big summer films are crowding the multiplex at the moment. There’s clearly been no rush to get it out, so why now, when it will surely be lost under a wave of major studio tentpoles? Director Vlad Marsavin, whose resume prior to Wonderwell consists of just a couple of short films, has attributed the delay to the complicated special effects and the challenges of working on it during the pandemic, but that still doesn’t account for the four years of post-production before the lockdown.

Whatever happens with Wonderwell, it won’t change the fact that we’ll never get another new character or performance or cameo from Fisher again. And that got us thinking about her extraordinary life and career, and all that we lost when she passed.

Most of us grew up knowing Fisher as Princess Leia, an association she wasn’t always comfortable with but eventually came to accept with humor and grace. Beyond the Star Wars franchise she built a steady career as a comedic actress. We’ll especially remember her for making the most of her scenes in When Harry Met Sally, as Jake’s pissed off ex-fiancé in The Blues Brothers, and her hilarious guest-starring role as Liz Lemon’s unhinged role model in the 30 Rock episode “Rosemary’s Baby.” Fisher was always popping up in the most unexpected places; it seems like she never turned down a chance to poke fun at herself in a cameo role. She played a nun twice—in Kevin Smith’s Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back and in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle—and also appeared as herself (or a version of herself) in shows like Sex And The City and The Big Bang Theory.

Speaking of nuns, Fisher had a thriving side career off screen as a script doctor, which included a rewrite on Sister Act. She’s also credited with polishing the screenplays for Hook and The Wedding Singer, among others. She wrote episodes of The Adventures Of Young Indiana Jones, Roseanne, and adapted her semi-autobiographical book Postcards From The Edge into the screenplay for the Mike Nichols film.

Fisher was many things to many different people: an actress, a writer, a daughter, a mother, an advocate, and a self-admitted hot mess. All of them are important, but the last one may turn out to be her most impactful legacy. Her openness about her personal challenges and struggles with drug abuse and mental health helped create space for others to talk about their own issues without shame. In a speech at an AFI event honoring George Lucas in 2005 she introduced herself like this: “Hello, I’m Mrs. Han Solo and I’m an alcoholic.” Over the laughter and applause, she continued, “I’m an alcoholic because George Lucas ruined my life, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.”

All of this made her relatable, though her upbringing was anything but typical. As the child of two Hollywood stars (Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds) she had a unique viewpoint that colored her approach to everything she did. Fortunately, she was smart enough to realize the advantages of that, and capitalize on it. Everything you ever wanted to know about her, the good and the bad, is all there in her candid memoirs—Shockaholic, Wishful Drinking (a one-woman show, later published in book form), and The Princess Diarist. If that’s not enough, you can read between the lines of Postcards From The Edge and her other novels, many of which are loosely based on her life.

While it’s unlikely that Wonderwell will be fondly remembered years from now (or, frankly, after next week), we still have plenty of other Carrie Fisher performances to revisit. She lives on in her writing, into which she put so much of herself. Princess Leia may be a fictional idol for young girls to look up to, but Fisher herself was a queen, a real-life role model that grown women, or anyone else, can truly admire.