Jodie Foster stopped by The Tonight Show on Wednesday where the actress promoted her new role on True Detective: Night Country. However, Jimmy Fallon asked the veteran actress to confirm an old Hollywood legend: That she turned down the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars.
“I was, yeah,” Foster told Fallon. “They were going for a younger Princess Leia but I had a conflict. I was doing a Disney movie and I just didn’t want to pull out of the Disney movie because I was already under contract.”
Foster isn’t joking that George Lucas originally aimed for a much younger Leia before landing on Carrie Fisher, who became a screen legend thanks to her performance in the iconic role.
Casting Foster would have likely significantly changed the role. Foster would have been just 13 and 14 years old during the years the original Star Wars was filmed, and then 15 when the movie was released in 1977. The role was, of course, played by Carrie Fisher, who was 19 during filming.
“And they did an amazing job,” Foster continued. “I don’t know how good I would have been. I might have had different hair. I might have gone with a pineapple.”
Foster didn’t specify which Disney movie kept her from taking the Star Wars role, but it was most likely Freaky Friday, which hit theaters in 1976. Passing on Star Wars also gave Foster the chance to star in Taxi Driver, a film that also become a revered piece of cinematic history. The ’70s were neat.
True Detective: Night Country airs Sunday on HBO.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)