How Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher 'felt pressure' to lose weight

Carrie Fisher from Star Wars says she felt pressure to lose weight for the new Star Wars film, The Force Awakens.

The star, who famously plays Princess Leia, also reckons Hollywood's obsession with appearance is "insane".

"They don't want to hire all of me - only about three-quarters," she joked in a magazine interview.

"We treat beauty like an accomplishment and that is insane. Nothing changes, it's an appearance-driven thing," she said.

"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."

In the interview, with Good Housekeeping Magazine, the 59-year-old revealed she managed to lost 35 pounds (which is over two stone) by exercising and eating less.

"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," she said.

"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."'

In the interview she revealed that her mother, daughter and dog, Gary, are the most important things in her life.

"He travels everywhere with me. I love that saying, 'Make me become the person my animal thinks I am.' If I am who Gary thinks I am, I'm fantastic."

Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill in the first Star Wars, 1977

In October, a Star Wars producer said she had "no doubt" there will be a female director of a Star Wars film in the future.

Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm, said: "We will hire a woman who is going to direct a Star Wars movie."

Episode IX is set for release in 2019.

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