Though she may be immortalized as Princess Leia Organa from “Star Wars”, Carrie Fisher was a talented creative who broke past her on-screen persona to produce, write, and direct several different forms of entertainment. To commemorate the legacy of Carrie Fisher, we’ve piled together some of her best work that the talented creative didn’t go above and beyond to boast about.
“Star Wars” (1977): Fisher’s rewrites of her lines as Princess Leia (and all of her notes on her scenes) are beginning to circulate, and while they don’t count as official script doctoring, it’s worth noting how much Fisher put into crafting Leia’s persona.
“Postcards From the Edge” (1990): Fisher’s most recognizable piece of self-crafted work first released as a novel about her life. It would eventually find its way into a full film production, with a screenplay authored by Fisher herself and Meryl Streep in the lead role.
“The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones” (1993): Fisher’s life-long friendship and former romance with Harrison Ford may have spawned some incredible Han and Leia moments, but it also may have influenced the voice with which she wrote one of the show’s most memorable episodes. “Paris, October 1916” tells the story of Jones’ love affair with a mysterious woman in France. The episode starred a young Sean Patrick Flannery in the lead.
“Hook” (1991): Fisher didn’t completely write this script, but her overhaul of the story as a script doctor is arguably what launched her career as one of the most sought-after script doctors in Hollywood.
“Sister Act” (1992): Fisher doctored the script for this Whoopi Goldberg classic, tossing in whip-smart lines that sped the movie’s pace along and made it the beloved film it is today.
“Last Action Hero” (1993): Fisher’s work primarily floated within the areas of comedies, and while this Schwarzenegger flop may not be on the top of everyone’s list, it’s worth watching just for the one-liners.
“So I Married An Axe Murderer” (1993): This classic 90’s comedy found it’s way under Fisher’s pen as her popularity as a writer began to soar.
“Made in America” (1993): No stranger to Whoopi Goldberg’s tastes, Fisher hopped back in and doctored the script for this multiracial classic, which also starred Ted Dansen.
“The Phantom Menace” (1999) and “Attack of the Clones” (2002): Here’s a surprise — Carrie Fisher noted both “Star Wars” Episodes I and II as being part of her doctored screenplay lineup. There aren’t many details on what she did, unfortunately, but it wasn’t the first “Star Wars” script she had tooled around with.
“Coyote Ugly” (2000): This raunchy NYC flick received the Fisher touch at the height of her career as a script doctor.
“These Old Broads” (2001): This TV movie may be buried under your stacks, but Fisher’s signature wit oozes out of the script. Focusing on three actresses who make a comeback after their 60’s film finds its revival, the comedy is a great trip down memory lane starring her mother, Debbie Reynolds, and (interestingly) Elizabeth Taylor.
“Scream 3” (2000): The turn into horror may not have been expected, but the “Scream” film series was — at the time — known for its fantastic pre-death lines and situations. Fisher said that she worked on this script, which is believable when you watch the Dewey and Gale arguments.
“Intolerable Cruelty” (2003): Fisher began losing interest in doctoring scripts as the industry began to change. She told Newsweek in a 2008 interview that “in order to get a rewrite job, you have to submit your notes for your ideas on how to fix the script. So they can get all the notes from all the different writers, keep the notes and not hire you. That’s free work and that’s what I always call life-wasting events.”