Mark Hamill has opened up a bit about Carrie Fisher's passing and her upcoming role in Star Wars 9. Sadly, Fisher passed away in December 2016 very unexpectedly. She had already finished filming her role as Princess Leia in The Last Jedi, but her future in the franchise was put in serious doubt. However, Lucasfilm and J.J. Abrams are making use of footage shot for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi to include her in the upcoming finale to this trilogy, and Hamill thinks she would get a kick out of it.

The man behind Luke Skywalker was recently conducting interviews in honor of his role in Knightfall season 2. At one point, Mark Hamill was discussing the original plan for the trilogy, which saw Han Solo as the focus of The Force Awakens, followed by Luke in The Last Jedi and the idea was to have Leia finish that pattern in Star Wars 9. Sadly, that couldn't happen as planned, but Mark Hamill feels Carrie Fisher would enjoy knowing that she's going to be part of a big, hit movie posthumously. Here's what he had to say about it.

"Harrison was more prominent in the first of the sequels, then I was more prominent, and Carrie was meant to be more prominent in the third. I'm glad they found a way to do that, and something tells me that she'd get a real kick out of the fact that she had a hit movie years after she left us, because that was just her. I like to think that would please her, but nothing would be better than having her here."

While it may be presumptuous, even if it is a very safe presumption, that Episode IX is going to be a hit, Mark Hamill seems to have a point. Carrie Fisher was a huge presence on and off the screen and she does seem like the kind of person who would love to know that her legacy is being carried on after her passing in such a way. Speaking a bit further, Hamill talked about the impact losing his co-star and friend has had.

"To lose Carrie in real life, I hate when harsh reality butts into my fantasy! It was really upsetting and it's not easy dealing with it in public. You didn't have to know her to be a fan of hers. It's unspeakably sad. I mean, usually her timing was impeccable. In this case, not so much. When I watch that scene when I say goodbye to her [in The Last Jedi], it takes me out of the movie completely. They say in the script [of The Last Jedi], 'kill the past, you have to'. And they're doing a pretty good job. I'd like to think nothing would be better than having her here because she was always fun [...] she could always make me laugh. I was proud that I could make her laugh. That's really what it's all about!"

It hasn't been revealed just how much of Leia we're going to see in what is being billed as the final chapter in the Skywalker saga. Hopefully, we'll learn a bit more during Star Wars Celebration next month. Star Wars Episode IX is set to hit theaters on December 20. This news was previously reported by Radio Times.