Carrie Fisher’s 5 Most Iconic Roles

Carrie Fisher revealed a new, svelte look on the Today show Wednesday, showing off her recent 50-pound weight loss. The actress said she dropped the pounds through the Jenny Craig program, of which she’s a spokesperson.

Born into Hollywood royalty as the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher (and once married to Paul Simon) Fisher has had many looks throughout her life, most notably in the late ’70s and ’80s when she played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars movies.

She has also been portrayed by Meryl Streep in the autobiographical 1990 film Postcards From the Edge (Fisher wrote the screenplay and the book it’s based on) and lives in cartoon form on Family Guy as Peter’s supervisor Angela.

Here are Fisher’s 5 most iconic roles and some things you may not know about them:

1. Princess Leia in Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
Fisher was 19 when she was cast in George Lucas’ film trilogy. While playing the spunky and virginal princess, Fisher was actually in the midst of drug and alcohol problems. She said during a Wishful Drinking tour stop in Sydney last year, “We did cocaine on the set of Empire, in the ice planet. I didn’t even like coke that much, it was just a case of getting on whatever train I needed to take to get high.”

2. Marie in When Harry Met Sally
Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan had top billing in Rob Reiner’s 1989 romantic comedy but co-stars Fisher and Bruno Kirby nearly stole the show as the best friends of the lead characters who end up falling in love with each other after a disastrous double date. Fisher said one scene in which she and Kirby sit in bed and offer advice to Crystal and Ryan was shot in real time, “like a play,” and took 30-40 takes to complete.

3. Angela in Family Guy
Fisher gives voice to the character Angela on Fox’s animated series. Angela is Peter Griffin’s boss at the Pawtucket Brewery and once tried to kill herself after Peter refused to have sex with her. Fisher has also participated in the show’s Star Wars parody episode “It’s a Trap!”

4. Rosemary Howard in 30 Rock

Fisher had a memorable turn on NBC’s 30 Rock in the 2007 episode titled “Rosemary’s Baby,” in which she played Liz Lemon’s (Tina Fey) idol, edgy comedy writer Rosemary Howard. Critics praised Fisher’s appearance, with several putting “Rosemary’s Baby” on their “best-of” lists at the end of that year’s television season. Fisher’s line “Help me, Liz Lemon! You’re my only hope!” spoofed her Star Wars role and caught one critic “off guard and became one of the biggest laugh-out-loud moments of the episode.” The guest spot earned Fisher an Emmy nomination.

5. Herself in Wishful Drinking

Fisher was nominated for another Emmy award for her HBO special Wishful Drinking. A memoir of the same name was published in 2008. The special covered her highly-publicized life story, from being a daughter of Reynolds and singer Fisher to her downward mental and physical spiral. Fisher’s one-woman stage production received notoriety; she received a Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations for her performance on Broadway.