Star Wars: “True Detective” star Jodie Foster almost became Princess Leia

• Oscar winner Jodie Foster achieved worldwide fame even without a role in “Star Wars”.
• However, during the press tour for her latest project “True Detective – Night Country”, she revealed that she was offered a role in the Star Wars saga.
• Foster was originally supposed to play Princess Leia, but had to cancel due to scheduling reasons.

Jodie Foster became known as a child actress in the 1970s. She became particularly famous for her appearance in Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver”. The two-time Oscar winner received her first nomination for the film at the age of 15. And she almost appeared in “Star Wars” in 1977.

As US magazine VG247 reports, Foster, who is currently on a promotional tour for “True Detective – Night Country”, revealed that George Lucas and team had offered her the role of Princess Leia. However, she canceled due to scheduling conflicts.

She was already contractually committed to Disney – potentially for “One Crazy Friday” (1976) – and therefore could not take part in another project. What’s interesting is that Foster was several years younger than Carrie Fisher, who ended up getting the role.

With Jodie Foster, Leia would have been a teen princess

When Carrie Fisher first portrayed Leia in Star Wars (1977), she was 19 years old. Jodie Foster was 14-15 years old when the film was made. Had she accepted the role, Leia would have been less of a young adult and more of a teenager.

That would have potentially changed a lot. Lucas would probably have rethought the love story between Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Leia given this age difference. The twist that Luke and Leia are actually twins would also not have been possible, as the age difference between Mark Hamill and Jodie Foster (9 years) is even greater than that of Hamill and Fisher (5 years).

Casting Foster would have taken the “Star Wars” saga in a completely different direction. Even though it didn’t end up that way, the question of how the film series would have developed is certainly an exciting “what if” scenario.

Princess Leia last appeared in Obi-Wan Kenobi as a child, portrayed by Vivien Lyra Blair. It’s possible we’ll see a digitally animated Leia in the upcoming The Mandalorian film, as happened with Luke Skywalker.

Jodie Foster’s “True Detective – Night Country” is currently published weekly on WOW/Sky, in Germany every Monday. Of the total of 6 episodes, 4 have already been released, so only two episodes remain.