It’s official: Princess Leia snorted coke on set

In news that Star Wars fans would find either amusing or crushing, actress, writer and comedienne Carrie Fisher, most famous for her role as the iconic Princess Leia in the first Star Wars trilogy, has revealed in an interview that she was on cocaine while on the set of The Empire Strikes Back, the second film in the series.

“We did cocaine on the set of ‘Empire’, in the ice planet,” she told the Australian Associated Press, referring to the film’s initial sequence, a skirmish between the Rebellion (the film’s heroes) and the evil Empire on the icy planet of Hoth.

Local fans did not shy away from commenting on the news, and one particular Star Wars enthusiast wrote about it on his Facebook status update, which read: ‘Princess Leia doing coke on the ice planet. Blow on snow. nice.’

Fisher has become known for her frank attitude towards her past, particularly her torrent of failed marriages, her struggles with bipolar disorder and her drug addiction.

While her acting career suffered a similar fate to that of her Star Wars co-stars – i.e., a relegation to relative obscurity, with the exception of Harrison Ford – she has carved a niche for herself as a writer, script doctor and occasional comedienne. Her semi-autobiographical novel, Postcards from the Edge, was made into a film starring Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine and Dennis Quaid in 1990, and her new memoir, Wishful Drinking, will be adapted into both a stand up comedy show and an HBO documentary series.

Fisher’s caustic-but-endearing sense of humour, as well as her attitude towards the role that made her famous, can be seen in her ‘roast’ of George Lucas – the man behind the Star Wars franchise – during an American Film Institute event commemorating the filmmaker’s achievements.