Mark Hamill on Carrie Fisher: 'We should picture her looking down from the stars and extending her middle finger'

The Star Wars actor was talking before the 2017 Tony Awards

Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill at the 2016 Star Wars Celebration (Getty)

While the 71st Annual Tony Awards featured numerous speeches lambasting current President of the United States, Donald Trump, there was also a moment to remember all those great actors who graced stages around the world.

Star Wars’ actor Mark Hamill introduced the emotional "In Memoriam" segment, telling the audience: "This past year, we lost many beloved members of our theatrical family. Legends of the stage, artists from behind the scenes, princes of show business, and a princess.”

Of course, Hamill was talking about co-star Carrie Fisher, who died late last year, her mother, Debbie, passing away soon after.

Speaking about the segment before the show, Hamill told The Hollywood Reporter: “Carrie would never want us to be sad. Mentally we should picture her looking down from the stars and extending her middle finger to us.

“That was Carrie; she knew how to have fun and not take everything so seriously.”

Speaking about the role Fisher was going to take in Episode IX, Hamill said: “Usually her timing was exquisite, but among the reasons it’s terrible that she won’t be with us is that she was the pivotal character [in that film].”

He continued: “And I also look at it selfishly: She was just hilarious. Sometimes I wouldn’t want to go out and do certain things to promote [The Force Awakens], but then I’d find out Carrie would be there, and I’d say OK, because then I knew it would be fun.”

In a recent interview, LucasFilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy said Fisher’s role in Episode IX was supposed to be fairly significant.

“She was having a blast [on The Last Jedi],” she said. “The minute she finished, she grabbed me and said, ‘I’d better be at the forefront of IX!’

“Because Harrison [Ford] was front and centre on VII, and Mark [Hamill] is front and centre on VIII. She thought IX would be her movie. And it would have been.”