The bagel buns strike back! Carrie Fisher to reprise role of Princess Leia in Star Wars films

‘She’s in an intergalactic old folks’ home’ the actress says

Carrie Fisher has confirmed she will reprise the role of Princess Leia that catapulted her to fame in the original Star Wars trilogy in the 1970s and ‘80s.

The actress, 56, confirmed that she will appear in one or more of the three new Star Wars films currently in the pipeline following the buyout of George Lucas’ company Lucasfilm by Disney last Autumn for $4.1bn.

Speaking to Palm Beach Illustrated she described what she imagines Princess Leia is like today: “Elderly. She’s in an intergalactic old folks’ home,” before adding, in seriousness: “I just think she would be just like she was before, only slower and less inclined to be up for big battle.”

Fisher played Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan in all three original films (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi) and also a TV spinoff called The Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978.

Famous for her signature double bun and bikini look, Fisher joked: “[Leia will still wear] the bagel buns and the bikini, because probably she has sundowners syndrome. At sundown she thinks she’s twenty-something. And she puts it on and gets institutionalised.”

Fisher, who has battled drug addiction in the past, something she wrote about in 1987 semiautobiographical novel Postcards from the Edge, spoke frankly about her “ongoing issues”.

“I am really open about what I’m going through. I’ve been in therapy since I was 15. … I have an ongoing condition, so I have to take my medication, and I have things that I do to keep abreast of that and not let that get away with me,” she said.

Earlier this year Disney announced that Star Wars: Episode VII, the first of a trilogy of sequels, would be directed by JJ Abrams and written by Michael Arndt. It is chalked up for release in 2015.

Disney boss Bob Iger also hinted at several spin-off films based on individual characters.

Iger told CNBC that the spin-offs were in the very early stages but that Larry Kasdan, writer of Empire Strikes Back, and Simon Kinberg, producer of This Means War, would be working on them. “I don’t have details or specifics about the films themselves,” he said.

The scripts are in development and “becoming more real” he said. “We’re not saying how many [films are being planned] although I did mention two creators [Kasdan and Simon Kinberg].

Lucas will pen the treatments for the three screenplays but Arndt, who wrote Toy Story 3, will pen them in full.

Disney executives are planning to release the follow-ups "every two to three years" after Episode VII.

The company has decided to shelve the planned release of Star Wars Episodes II and III in 3D next Autumn to focus on the new movies.