Princess Leia

Princess Leia Organa (/ˈleɪ.ə/ or /ˈliːə/) is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the original Star Wars film in 1977, Leia is a princess of the planet Alderaan, a member of the Imperial Senate, and an agent of the Rebel Alliance. She thwarts the Sith Lord Darth Vader and helps bring about the destruction of the Empire's superweapon, the Death Star. In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Leia commands a Rebel base and evades Vader as she falls in love with the smuggler Han Solo. In Return of the Jedi (1983), she helps to rescue Han from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and is revealed to be Vader's daughter and the twin sister of Luke Skywalker. Leia is portrayed by Carrie Fisher in the original film trilogy and the sequel trilogy.

The 2005 prequel film Revenge of the Sith reveals that Leia's mother is Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo, who dies after childbirth. Her father is Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi who falls to the dark side of the Force and becomes Darth Vader. After her mother's death, Leia is adopted by Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan and his wife, Queen Breha. In the sequel trilogy, Leia is a founder and General of the Resistance, which fights against the First Order. She and Han have a son named Ben Solo, who turned to the dark side and became the First Order warlord Kylo Ren. In The Rise of Skywalker (2019), it is revealed that Leia was trained as a Jedi by Luke sometime after the events of Return of the Jedi. Leia is now the mentor of Rey, the last remaining Jedi. Leia dies towards the end of the film but returns as a Force spirit alongside Luke.

One of the more popular Star Wars characters, Leia has been called a 1980s icon, a feminist hero and model for other adventure heroines. She has appeared in many derivative works and merchandising, including the now-noncanonical Star Wars Expanded Universe, and has been referenced or parodied in several TV shows and films. Her "cinnamon bun" hairstyle from Star Wars (1977) and metal bikini from Return of the Jedi have become cultural icons. Fisher was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Actress for Star Wars and Return of the Jedi. She also received Saturn Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, the latter being a posthumous nomination.

Leia was created by Star Wars creator George Lucas, who in 1999 explained his early development of the main characters:

The first [version] talked about a princess and an old general. The second version involved a father, his son, and his daughter; the daughter was the heroine of the film. Now the daughter has become Luke, Mark Hamill's character. There was also the story of two brothers where I transformed one of them into a sister. The older brother was imprisoned, and the young sister had to rescue him and bring him back to their dad.

The character Princess Leia went through various changes as George Lucas wrote and refined the Star Wars screenplay. In one early draft, she is the spoiled teenage daughter of King Kayos and Queen Breha of Aquilae. In a later version, she is Luke's cousin and the daughter of Owen Lars and his wife Beru. A subsequent story synopsis establishes her as Leia Antilles, the child of Bail Antilles from the peaceful world of Organa Major. In the fourth draft, she is Leia Organa of Alderaan, which is how she appears in the finished film.

Carrie Fisher was 19 when she was cast as Princess Leia. She was cast over Karen Allen, Glenn Close, Farrah Fawcett, Anjelica Huston, Amy Irving, Jessica Lange, Terri Nunn, Linda Purl, Meryl Streep and Cindy Williams.

Jodie Foster was offered the role and was almost cast, but ultimately had to turn it down as she was under a contract with Disney, and was obliged to star in the adventure film Candleshoe (1977), simultaneously while the first movie was in production.