Jodie Foster has passed on many projects during her six-decade career in front of the cameras, but one of the biggest missed opportunities was playing Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

In 1975-1976, George Lucas considered hundreds of famous actresses for the part of the secret Rebel Alliance leader, but wound up casting 19-year-old Carrie Fisher on the condition she shed 10 pounds.

‘They were going for a younger Princess Leia but I had a conflict,’ the 61-year-old former child star revealed on Wednesday’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

‘I was doing a Disney movie and I just didn’t want to pull out because I was already under contract. So, I didn’t do it and you know, they did an amazing job. I don’t know how good I would have been. I might have had different hair, you know. I might have gone with a pineapple.’

Indeed, Jodie (born Alicia) starred in eight films between 1976-1977 including the original Freaky Friday for Disney and Martin Scorsese‘s gritty drama Taxi Driver.

Jodie Foster has passed on many projects during her six-decade career in front of the cameras, but one of the biggest missed opportunities was playing Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

In 1975-1976, George Lucas considered hundreds of famous actresses for the part of the secret Rebel Alliance leader, but wound up casting 19-year-old Carrie Fisher on the condition she shed 10 pounds

Foster was certainly in demand in the industry, but she would’ve been only 14 years old when principal photography on Star Wars began on March 22, 1976.

That means the two-time Oscar winner would’ve been 17 when the Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980, and she would’ve been 20 when the Return of the Jedi was released in 1983.

Joining Jodie at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan for the talk show appearance was her eldest son Charles Foster, who graduated from her alma mater Yale University in 2021 with a BA in English.

Foster mothered Charlie and 22-year-old son Kit (who’s currently studying chemistry at Princeton) during her 15-year relationship with producer Cydney Bernard, which ended in 2008.

The life-long Los Angeleno’s wife of nine years, Alex Hedison, spent her Wednesday arriving at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT.

Jodie executive produced the 54-year-old photographer’s 19-minute documentary short Alok (about non-binary author Alok Vaid-Menon), which premieres Thursday at the Prospector Square Theatre.

For her supporting role as swim coach Bonnie Stoll in Nyad, Foster will next compete at the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards, which air February 24 on Netflix.

The four-time Golden Globe winner faces heavy competition against frontrunner – The Holdovers’ Da’Vine Joy Randolph – as well as Oppenheimer’s Emily Blunt, The Color Purple’s Danielle Brooks, and Ferrari’s Penélope Cruz.

The 61-year-old former child star revealed on Wednesday’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: ‘They were going for a younger Princess Leia but I had a conflict’

Jodie continued: ‘I was doing a Disney movie and I just didn’t want to pull out because I was already under contract. So, I didn’t do it and you know, they did an amazing job. I don’t know how good I would have been. I might have had different hair, you know. I might have gone with a pineapple’

Indeed, Foster starred in eight films between 1976-1977 including the original Freaky Friday for Disney (pictured) and Martin Scorsese’s gritty drama Taxi Driver

The two-time Oscar winner was certainly in demand in the industry, but she would’ve been only 14 years old when principal photography on Star Wars began on March 22, 1976

That means Jodie would’ve been 17 when the Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980, and she would’ve been 20 when the Return of the Jedi was released in 1983 (pictured)

Joining Foster at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan for the talk show appearance was her eldest son Charles Foster (R), who graduated from her alma mater Yale University in 2021 with a BA in English

The life-long Los Angeleno mothered Charlie and 22-year-old son Kit (who’s currently studying chemistry at Princeton) during her 15-year relationship with producer Cydney Bernard, which ended in 2008

Jodie’s wife of nine years, Alex Hedison, spent her Wednesday arriving at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT

Foster executive produced the 54-year-old photographer’s 19-minute documentary short Alok (about non-binary author Alok Vaid-Menon), which premieres Thursday at the Prospector Square Theatre

For her supporting role as swim coach Bonnie Stoll in Nyad, the four-time Golden Globe winner will compete for a Critics’ Choice Award this Sunday and a Screen Actors Guild Award on February 24

Jodie faces heavy competition against frontrunner – The Holdovers’ Da’Vine Joy Randolph – as well as Oppenheimer’s Emily Blunt, The Color Purple’s Danielle Brooks, and Ferrari’s Penélope Cruz

Foster executive produced and stars as gruff police chief Liz Danvers in the $60M-budget fourth season of Nic Pizzolatto’s award-winning anthology series True Detective: Night Country, which airs Sundays on Max

Jodie executive produced and stars as gruff police chief Liz Danvers in the $60M-budget fourth season of Nic Pizzolatto’s award-winning anthology series True Detective: Night Country, which airs Sundays on Max.

The mystical mystery about the disappearance of eight male scientists from a climate change research station is set in fictional Alaskan town of Ennis, but it was filmed in Iceland where the cast and crew braved temperatures as low as −9F degrees.

True Detective: Night Country currently has a ‘certified fresh’ 93% critic approval rating (out of 103 reviews) but a 68% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.