Kevin Smith Writes Beautiful Tribute To His Friend Carrie Fisher

In his debut feature film Clerks, indie film icon and professional geek Kevin Smith established a voice for himself that included off-kilter riffs on mainstream pop culture like Jaws and Star Wars.

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Both of those properties would become recurring elements in his film for decades, particularly Star Wars, culminating when, in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Carrie Fisher appeared as a nun and the title characters engaged in an honest-to-goodness lightsaber duel with Mark Hamill.

It’s probably no surprise that Smith became friendly with both of his childhood heroes: when ComicBook.com recently spoke with Mark Hamill, he praised Smith and, when we related the message to Smith during a subsequent interview, he said of the Star Wars and The Flash actor “I doff my cap to Hamill” as an oral storyteller.

With the passing of Fisher, Smith took to social media to deliver something a little more elaborate and a lot more profound.

“As a boy, I dreamed of marrying Carrie Fisher,” Smith writes, in part. “As a young filmmaker, I dreamed of casting Carrie Fisher. As an adult, I dreamed of being as sharp-witted and prepossessed as Carrie Fisher. And now that Carrie Fisher is gone, I’ll dream of my friend Carrie – whose entire magnificent career I was lucky enough to witness, whose honesty made me a better person, and whose spirit – like The Force – will be with us always.”

You an see the full Instagram post below.

The Princess stole my heart at age 7. Anybody who knows me knows #CarrieFisher was my first love. I thrilled to the adventures of #princessleia in the @starwars movies, but from ’77 to ’84, I was in love with Carrie Fisher herself. My bedroom was filled with Carrie Fisher pictures from any movie she was ever in (including Polaroids I took off the TV when #thebluesbrothers hit cable). I was jealous of Paul Simon when he was dating Carrie Fisher and wouldn’t listen to his music until they split up. I paid to see Carrie Fisher and #chevychase in Under the Rainbow nine times when it was in theaters (mostly because Carrie Fisher was in underwear in one scene). In childhood, I committed myself to Carrie Fisher without ever meeting her the way novice Nuns commit themselves to Christ without meeting Him. Decades later, I got to tell her this when Carrie Fisher and @jaymewes were in a station wagon on the set of #jayandsilentbobstrikeback. She was gracious about hearing it for the zillionth time from the zillionth man or woman who grew up idolizing her, but wickedly added “I’m glad to know I helped you find your light saber.” And with that, she stopped being Carrie Fisher to me and just became Carrie. That’s the Carrie I’ll always remember: the dutiful standard-bearer of childhood dreams with a the wicked sense of humor and a way with words. She didn’t want to get paid for her role in @jayandsilentbob Strike Back; instead, she asked that we buy her these antique beaver chairs. Her reason: “Beaver seems an appropriate currency for this movie.” When she was a guest on Season 1 of our @hulu show #Spoilers, Carrie curled up in the throne like she belonged there. And she did: after all, she was royalty. As a boy, I dreamed of marrying Carrie Fisher. As a young filmmaker, I dreamed of casting Carrie Fisher. As an adult, I dreamed of being as sharp-witted and prepossessed as Carrie Fisher. And now that Carrie Fisher is gone, I’ll dream of my friend Carrie – whose entire magnificent career I was lucky enough to witness, whose honesty made me a better person, and whose spirit – like The Force – will be with us always. Goodnight, Sweet Princess…

A photo posted by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on Dec 27, 2016 at 10:56am PST

Fisher starred as Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy and reprised her role as Leia, now a General of the Resistance, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Fisher’s final performance as Leia will be seen in Star Wars: Episode VIII in 2017.

Harrison Ford’s Statement / Kathleen Kennedy’s Statement / Star Wars Cast Reacts / Hollywood Reacts / Fan’s Respond / Fisher’s Best Roles /Fisher’s Most Memorable Quotes / Most Memorable Leia Moments