Carrie Fisher Confirms She Will Be Back As Princess Leia In Star Wars Episode VII

In mid-February we learned of heavy rumors that Harrison Ford would be reprising his role as Han Solo in Star Wars Episode VII, but today's big Star Wars casting news story comes with a bit more weight considering it's a direct confirmation from the actor.

Palm Beach Illustrated recently had the chance to interview Carrie Fisher, known to sci-fi fans around the universe as Princess Leia Organa, and during the course of their chat the actress confirmed that she will be back for the seventh film in the Star Wars saga. Below is the direct transcript from their conversation:

Disney is going to continue the Star Wars saga, producing movies set to hit theaters starting in 2015. Can you confirm whether you’ll reprise the role of Princess Leia?Yes.What do you think Princess Leia is like today?Elderly. She’s in an intergalactic old folks’ home [laughs]. I just think she would be just like she was before, only slower and less inclined to be up for the big battle.

Rumors of a Luke, Han and Leia reunion in Star Wars Episode VII are looking truer by the day, but if they all end up actually being involved how will their story play out? Will Luke be running a Jedi academy? Could he end up on the dark side? What will be the status of Han and Leia's relationship?

J.J. Abrams is directing the new film, which is based on a script by Michael Arndt. When the deal between LucasFilm and Disney was first announced the project was given a 2015 release date, however, both Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy have said that may no longer be the case.

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.