When George Lucas’ science fiction epic Star Wars was introduced to the globe in 1977, cinema would be forever changed, with the film’s precipitous impact altering the way blockbusters were consumed and marketed.
From C-3PO lunch boxes to Ewok handbags, the Star Wars world infiltrated every nook and crevice of western society, with each of the principal stars, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill becoming symbols of the late 20th-century zeitgeist.
Understandably, when a romance between Ford and Fisher was rumored on the set of the picture, the mainstream media were highly intrigued, reporting on the rumors with a startling lack of actual evidence.
As revealed in a final memoir by the late Carrie Fisher titled The Princess Diarist, however, it was revealed that an affair did actually take place between the married 33-year-old Ford and a young Fisher when she was aged just 19.
In an interview with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford of the Today Show, Fisher revealed that the nature of their relationship was mostly sexual and described it as being more comparable to a “three-month one-night stand.” The couple had kept their affair a secret for the previous four decades.
Fisher, who was feeling guilty about the affair that was initiated by Ford while they were filming in London, recalled saying, “I wasn’t raised that way, but when you’re on location — this is something I discovered — everything is permitted.” Fisher was feeling guilty about the affair because it was initiated by Ford.
Fisher reported that she kept a professional demeanor on set and that she wanted more from the affair than Ford did. She wrote in her memoir that she was “obsessed” with the actor and that she made acquiring him her “number one priority.” Fisher stated that Ford did not want more from the affair than she did.
Despite the fact that the teenage actor had fantasized about Ford divorcing his wife Mary Marquardt for her, such a desire never came true, and after production on the first Star Wars picture concluded, Ford went back to his family.
Ford and Marquardt filed for divorce not long after the premiere of the groundbreaking science fiction film, which provided Fisher with the opportunity to briefly reignite her love affair with the actor while working on the set of the sequel film, The Empire Strikes Back.
Nevertheless, as time went on, Fisher moved on, getting married to Paul Simon in 1983 but shortly after divorcing him and starting a relationship with the American talent agent Bryan Lourd instead.
Ford reportedly joked to Fisher that they needed to “lawyer” up before the release of the book, while Fisher believed the book would be “too much” for her co-star to deal with.
Ford told the Today Show that she contacted the actor before the release of the book. Fisher played Princess Leia in the Star Wars films.
Despite the fact that Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher were obviously in love with one another, it appears as though their ardent desire for one another was never able to get off the ground, despite the fact that they were involved in what sounds like it was a very passionate affair in the late 1970s.
According to what the late actor said in 2016 to The Guardian, “Yes, I love him. I’ll have a soft spot in my heart for him forever. We can only hope that such a beautiful fantasy is taking place in a galaxy far, far away, and in a parallel universe.
Melissa Mathison
Melissa Mathison was born in Los Angeles on June 3, 1950. She is best known for penning the screenplays for the movies “The Black Stallion” (1979) and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982), the latter of which earned her a nomination for “Best Original Screenplay.
” Mathison has won an Academy Award nomination for her work on “E.T.” According to ABC, Melissa met Harrison on the set of Apocalypse Now, which she frequently attended because Francis Ford Coppola was a friend of hers. In 1983, the couple made the decision to take their relationship to the next level by getting married.
They first became parents in 1987, to a son named Malcolm, and then in 1990, to a girl named Georgia. Even though it was claimed that they continued to get along well, they experimented with living apart in the year 2000 prior to formally filing for divorce in the year 2004. A representative for Harrison’s camp stated to ABC at the time that “the pair is very friendly and everything is handled in a very amicable manner.” After a courageous fight against cancer, Melissa passed away in 2015 at the age of 65.