Tuesday

SHOW: GOOD MORNING AMERICA (07:00 AM ET) - ABC

August 16, 2002 Friday

CARRIE FISHER STAR WARS

DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS

Carrie Fisher is known as one of the great forces out in Hollywood for her intelligence and her ability to extract laughter out of the darkest events. As we know, she was the child of Hollywood stars Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. She was also Princess Leia in "Star Wars." And we have all read about her publicized bouts with drug addiction. Her book, "Postcards From The Edge." She has also fought a winning battle against a terrifying mental illness. Well, recently I sat down to talk with Carrie Fisher about her latest undertaking, it's a talk show called "Conversations From The Edge With Carrie Fisher." It begins a new season on Oxygen this Sunday.

DIANE SAWYER (CONTINUED)

(Off Camera) What's the most awkward moment you've had so far?

CARRIE FISHER, "CONVERSATION FROM THE EDGE WITH CARRIE FISHER"

Oh, well, uh, I think, um, Lucas showed my audition.

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) George Lucas, your audition for "Star Wars"?

CARRIE FISHER

George Lucas. Yeah.

CLIP OF CARRIE FISHER'S AUDITION FOR "STAR WARS"

CARRIE FISHER

I think I had, like . . .

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) Do you think yourself? Yeah?

CARRIE FISHER

Well, I, at this distance, had I watched at the time I would have crawled under the chair. But now I keep thinking, what was I, why didn't I think I was attractive then? I missed it.

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) What should you have said to her then?

CARRIE FISHER

Enjoy this because it's all going to melt.

DIANE SAWYER

(Voice Over) And melt, she did. Through harrowing years of use drug use, abuse, addiction, intense relationships with brilliant men and the manic depression she didn't really take seriously until she suffered a full psychotic break in 1997.

clip from carrie fisher interview

DIANE SAWYER

(Voice Over) Now she says she owns her illness. She manages its roller coaster ride with a regimen of medication. Her suffering serves as her search light. And on her show she's doing what she says she learned to do so well in years of therapy, talk, discover with guests like Robin Williams.

DIANE SAWYER (CONTINUED)

(Voice Over) Did you learn anything about him?

CARRIE FISHER

Well, I knew, um, that his mother was very eccentric and I was going to ask 'cause I heard my mother was eccentric. And, um, his mother, in fact, had worn very strange, maybe not strange, but she'd worn amusing hats all her life. And that when she passed away, all her friends wore one of her hats to, uh, the funeral.

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) Who's the most boring person you've interviewed?

CARRIE FISHER

Oh, my God, as if. You, then, then I'm, I would force you to say that.

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) Who's the cutest person you've interviewed?

CARRIE FISHER

Well, uh, Ben Affleck. You.

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) Ohhhh.

CARRIE FISHER

Ohhhh.

DIANE SAWYER

That would be telling.

DIANE SAWYER (CONTINUED)

(Off Camera) Yeah.

CARRIE FISHER

The person that I, worshiped the most ever, uh, was Cary Grant. Just ever, ever, ever. And the . . .

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) Because of the epicenter of cool and . . .

CARRIE FISHER

Just because he was, he, he just had it all. He had grace and class, and smart. And, you know, um, so the great thing was my mother called him at a certain point in my life and told him that I had a problem, perhaps that I was addicted, she told him, to LSD, because Cary grant was known to have experimented. I always think experimenting with drugs is hilarious. Like, you run out of a, laboratory with, you know, a beaker. I've got the formula. Um, so he was called and he called me to talk to me about my acid problem. So, I was mortified, but it was Cary Grant, but it was only his voice, so I handled myself okay. But when I ran into him in person I could not do it. I kept backing. Hi, I'm Debbie Reynolds' daughter. And when he died, I, I, I felt horrible.

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) So, you have a tattoo? I didn't know that about you.

CARRIE FISHER

From a manic high.

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) Really?

CARRIE FISHER

Yes. An ex-con did it. And he had such good stories that I lost track of what he was doing.

DIANE SAWYER

(Off Camera) How long ago?

CARRIE FISHER

Um, seven, eight months. My daughter was mortified.

DIANE SAWYER

(Voice Over) A 10-year-old girl with her mother's love of the truth and laughter.

CARRIE FISHER

My daughter got me a sticker yesterday that she told me it says "Gone crazy. Be back soon."

DIANE SAWYER

We'll be back with Michelle Branch singing.

TONY PERKINS, ABC NEWS