Star Wars Didn't Cast Jodie Foster As Princess Leia For A Simple Reason

There was a time when the heroes of "Star Wars" might not have looked like Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher. When George Lucas was mapping out what would become a staple of '70s fantasy cinema, Al Pacino almost captained the Millennium Falcon. Luke Skywalker (who nearly had a much darker name) almost went to Kurt Russell. And before Carrie Fisher got the call for Princess Leia, Jodie Foster, star of "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Contact" — one of the most scientifically accurate sci-fi movies ever made — was approached for the part.

Understandably, when working on one of the biggest gambles of blockbuster history, Foster's credible name was considered to give "Star Wars" extra oomph. A rising talent who had already appeared in "Taxi Driver" and "Freaky Friday," she seemed ideal for an adventure in space. According to the movie's producer, Gary Kurtz, plenty of names had been considered besides Fisher and Foster.

"We had a lot of people, hundreds, that we saw. It was quick and dirty. You talk to each person, jot down a note or two," Kurtz told the L.A. Times. Are they a score of 'five' or higher? Do they deserve a callback? On those lists were a lot of interesting people — John Travolta, Sly Stallone — who were great but just not right. I went to New York to do an interview with Jodie Foster, for instance, but she was just too young for Leia. A lot of it comes down to luck and timing."

As would later be stated by wise Master Yoda in "The Empire Strikes Back," "Do or do not. There is no try." Which is relevant to why, when it came to Foster getting a chance at Princess Leia, she simply didn't have time to take on the Empire. During an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Foster recalled trying out for the role that eventually went to Carrie Fisher. 

As it turns out, her age was a major factor in the film's initial drafts. That, and simple scheduling conflicts. "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." There were no hard feelings from Foster about missing out, and she was happy that Fisher got the gig in the end. 

Her only concern was that she might not have been able to pull off the iconic hairstyle that Fisher wielded with those legendary side buns. "And they did an amazing job," Foster said. "I don't know how good I would have been. I might have had different hair. I might have gone with a pineapple." Who knows? In another timeline, Foster could've been our Leia, but then it might've been Fisher getting hissed at by Hannibal Lecter years later, instead.