The Star Wars Cameo You Missed In Scream 3
"Scream 3" is somewhat notorious in the "Scream" fandom. It's the only entry in the series not written by Kevin Williamson, it features a cameo from Jay and Silent Bob, and Courtney Cox's bangs are just insane. But for those with the patience, "Scream 3" provides plenty of delights. Parker Posey's unhinged actress character is a thing to behold. When she ends a scene by jumping into Patrick Warburton's arms, it's cinematic gold.
"Scream 3" also presaged the Me Too movement by decades, centering the plot around a sexual assault at a Hollywood bigwig party. The "Scream" series was distributed by Dimension Films, run by Bob Weinstein, brother of the other guy. So acknowledging the pervasiveness of sexism and abuse in the industry probably took some guts on the part of Wes Craven and the team.
One scene in the film is the perfect moment where these two sides of "Scream 3" intersect: the absurd meta-humor and the serious examination of sexism in Hollywood. It's the moment when Carrie Fisher cameos as a woman who didn't get the Princess Leia role in "Star Wars."
Carrie Fisher helped create her Scream 3 character
Gale Weathers (Cox) and Jennifer Jolie (Posey) meet Fisher's character in the Sunrise Studios archives. The archivist on duty is Bianca Burnette, who is a dead ringer for Carrie Fisher. "I was up for Princess Leia," Bianca says. "I was this close. So, who gets it? The one who sleeps with George Lucas." Fisher said that she helped write her scene, which makes sense since, she was one of Hollywood's most effective script doctors for years (via The Wrap).
Although Fisher didn't actually have to sleep with George Lucas to get the part of Princess Leia, she did encounter some weird sexism while playing the role. In her memoir-one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking, " Fisher told the story of how Lucas forbade her from wearing a bra in the part because there's no underwear in space. "I promise you this is true," she wrote, "and he says it with such conviction too! Like he had been to space and looked around and he didn't see any bras or panties or briefs anywhere" (via Deadline).
Fisher was also pressured to lose weight to play Leia (per the Washington Post) — both in 1977 and when "The Force Awakens" was in development. The more things change, the more they stay the same.