Working With Carrie Fisher Was Like Being In A Garage Band, Says Mark Hamill In Moving Tribute

In the new edition of The Hollywood Reporter, Hamill has written a guest column about the “joy” of playing Luke Skywalker alongside Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia on five Star Wars movies.
He compares working with Carrie Fisher to like being in a garage band. “Carrie and I occupied a unique area in each other’s lives - it was like we were in a garage band together that somehow hit it huge. We had no idea the impact Star Wars would have on the world,” he writes in his moving tribute.
“I remember we were out on tour right before the movie opened. By the time we got to Chicago, there was a crowd at the airport. I said, ‘Hey look, you guys, there must be somebody famous on the plane.' I was looking around to see who it might be. And then in the crowd I saw a kid dressed in a Han Solo vest. Then I saw girl dressed like Princess Leia. I said, ‘Oh my God, look, Carrie, there’s somebody dressed just like you. She’s got the buns on her head!’”

He also notes, “I’m grateful that we stayed friends and got to have this second act with the new movies. I think it was reassuring to her that I was there, the same person, that she could trust me, as critical as we could sometimes be with each other. We ran the gamut over the years, where we were in love with each other, where we hated each other’s guts. ‘I’m not speaking to you, you’re such a judgmental, royal brat!’ We went through it all. It’s like we were a family.

“When you were in her good graces, you couldn’t have more fun with any person on the planet. She was able to make you feel like you were the most important thing in her life. I think that’s a really rare quality. And then you could go 180 degrees opposite, where you were furious with one another and wouldn't speak for weeks and weeks. But that’s all part of what makes a relationship complete. It’s not all one sided. Like I say, she was a handful. She was high maintenance. But my life would have been so much drabber and less interesting if she hadn’t been the friend that she was.”