Shoot This Now - Carrie Fisher Didn't Want to Be an Actor. She Became an Icon (Featuring Inside Star Wars' Mark Ramsey)

Carrie Fisher Didn't Want to Be an Actor. She Became an Icon (Featuring Inside Star Wars' Mark Ramsey)

05/17/19 • 40 min

This week, Mark Ramsey joins us to preview "Inside Star Wars," which debuts Wednesday, May 29 and which you should subscribe to right here. But he also tells the Carrie Fisher story, a tale of a nervous 19-year-old who doesn't know she's about to star in the biggest movie in the world.

Carrie Fisher suffered a series of indignities for her role in "Star Wars" -- from scenes with a character everyone called "the dog" to a series of weird hairstyles to a pre-shooting trip to an icky 1970s institution known as a "fat farm."

But through her performance as Princess Leia, she became a cultural icon. A month after her death, the 2017 Women's March included many posters Leia Organa -- and her famous headphones-style hair -- accompanied by slogans about rebellion and "The Force."

She was also known for wit, humor, and dedication in the midst of struggle. She overcame her resistance to Hollywood and acting to fulfill her destiny as a movie star, writer, and symbol of the power of struggle. Her struggle with addiction set an example for many more people -- if someone as cool as Carrie Fisher could quit drugs and booze, so could they.

She died in December 2016, one day before from her mother, Debbie Reynolds. But her force will be with us, always.

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She died in December 2016, one day before from her mother, Debbie Reynolds. But her force will be with us, always.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

When Santa Cruz Had Two Serial Killers

There aren't enough content warnings in the world for the story of Ed Kemper and Herbert Mullin, two serial killers who simultaneously stalked Santa Cruz in 1972 and 1973.

Kemper posed as a wanna-be cop and Good Samaritan to lure hitchhikers into his car and do horrific things to his victims. Mullin believed his murders were human sacrifices to prevent earthquakes. Their paths eventually crossed.

This episode, clinical psychologist Dr. John Meigs joins us to talk about how to stop the next Ed Kemper or Herbert Mullin. Both men have been diagnosed with the same mental illness, and we discuss whether better detection and treatment of serious mental illness in this country could prevent mass killings.

We can't stress enough that most people with mental illnesses will never behave violently. As Dr. Meigs explains, they're far more likely to suffer a stressful and difficult effort to manage or overcome the situation. Illnesses don't discriminate, and any of us could suffer mental illness. So we need to remove the stigma attached to seeking help.

But Kemper and Mullin are extreme outliers. And the failure to diagnose and treat similarly dangerous people could be calamitous. The mental health group the Treatment Advocacy Center reports that "at least one third of mass killings are carried out by individuals with untreated serious mental illness" -- a finding that cries out for better treatment.

We talk this episode about whether our current emphasis on punishment over prevention makes sense.

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Next Episode

BONUS: Listen to 'Inside Star Wars' Revisit Day 1 of Shooting 'Episode IV: A New Hope

It was March 22, 1976 -- the first day of shooting "Star Wars." As Mark Ramsey's new "Inside Star Wars" reimagines that day in the Tunisian desert, it included hours of falling droids, an unlikely cameo by Jesus Christ, and lots of doubt from Sir Alec Guinness.

Ramsey, who also created "Inside Jaws," "Inside Psycho" and other podcasts, recently joined "Shoot This Now" to talk about Carrie Fisher's incredibly odyssey from reluctant actress to galactic icon. Ramsey also loaned us this brief excerpt of "Inside Star Wars," which you can subscribe to right here: https://wondery.com/shows/inside-star-wars/

With meticulous research and George Lucas-like levels of imagination, Ramsey and producer Jeff Schmidt take you back to the start of "Star Wars": Inside George Lucas' doubts, Carrie Fisher's apprehension, and Sir Alec Guinness outright bewilderment. If you've forgotten why you loved "Star Wars," Ramsey's latest will remind you.

And Tim and Deirdre will be back next week with an all-new "Shoot This Now."

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