‘Star Wars’ Biggest Opening Owes Credit To Carrie Fisher & Mark Hamill Weight Loss Wars: How They Shed 85 Lbs
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is making history for the biggest opening, but amid all the hoopla, the weight loss wars waged by Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill to shape up for the film seem to be missing from the credits. With a total of 85 pounds lost by Carrie and Mark, both have gone public with the details of how they shed their pounds to reprise their famous roles.
And for Hamill, taking off an estimated 50 pounds to reappear as Luke Skywalker was just as challenging as for Fisher, who lost an estimated 35 pounds to reprise her role of the former Princess Leia (now a General), noted the Hollywood Reporter.
“I’m on the ‘if it tastes good, don’t eat it’ diet,” complained Mark.
At 64, Hamill had to surrender his penchant for chips and muffins, swapping them for veggies and fruit.
“Look at what I’m eating now instead of potato chips and bagels,” said Mark distastefully of a produce platter, adding that he would prefer not to be flattered about slimming down. “[It] implies that I looked so dreadful before!”
Although he took off the pounds, Hamill confessed that initially he decided he would reprise the role only if Harrison Ford signed up for the movie as well.
“That’s our escape clause,” laughed Mark. “You know, if I’m the only one, I’ll look terrible — but if he doesn’t do it, I don’t have to do it.”
Carrie Fisher was just as candid as Hamill about her weight loss wars for the movie, telling Good Housekeeping UK that she was forced to lose more than 35 pounds.
The actress contends that the film industry is obsessed with appearance, in particular, weight.
“They don’t want to hire all of me – only about three-quarters! Nothing changes: it’s an appearance-driven thing. I’m in a business where the only thing that matters is weight and appearance. That is so messed up. They might as well say get younger, because that’s how easy it is.”
Given that it’s so hard to win the weight loss wars that she’s comparing it to reversing the clock on aging, Carrie admitted that there are no magic solutions or remedies for taking off the pounds. However, Fisher added that she recognizes it’s more difficult for her to diet than to exercise. Consequently, she stepped up her workouts while confessing that she dislikes feeling good about her success in slimming down.
“I did it the same way everybody has to – don’t eat and exercise more!” exclaimed Carrie. “There is no other way to do it. I have a harder time eating properly than I do exercising. It’s easier for me to add an activity than to deny myself something. And when I do lose the weight, I don’t like that it makes me feel good about myself.”
Fisher expressed concern that the entertainment industry focuses so much on how people look that beauty is regarded as an achievement. In Carrie’s view, people should be asking about and looking at each other’s emotions rather than outside appearances.
“We treat beauty like an accomplishment, and that is insane. Everyone in LA says,
‘Oh you look good,’ and you listen for them to say you’ve lost weight. It’s never ‘How are you?’ or ‘You seem happy!'” added the actress.
However, Fisher subsequently toned down her remarks about being forced into slimming down, according to ET.
“No one forces me to lose weight. I force them to force me,” said the 59-year-old actress. “[I said], ‘Make me lose weight, because I’ll look stupid if I’m at this weight.'”
An exception to all that weight loss for the newest entry in the saga was Harrison Ford reprising his own role as Han Solo.
“I was standing in the doorway talking to [director] J.J. [Abrams], and I made a gesture to the right and the door came down and hit me in the midsection,” recalled the actor. “It hit me with such force it flung my left leg up and it dislocated my left ankle and broke both bones in my leg.”
However, Ford survived surgery and rehab to get back to the movie.
[Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney]
