Via theverge.com:

“I am the beginning of girl power. Deal with it!”

Carrie Fisher is not shy about Princess Leia’s groundbreaking place in Star Wars — and movie — history. During yesterday’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens press panel in Los Angeles, moderated by Mindy Kaling, she and the cast and crew of new film naturally had to tiptoe around spoilers and plot details, even with the film’s release less than two weeks away. But if there was one theme to the panel, it was Carrie Fisher handing the baton to a new generation of women, who are creating a stronger, more female-driven version of the space opera saga than George Lucas ever dreamed of.

Princess Leia had a strange arc in the original trilogy. We were introduced to her as a strong leader that took no bullshit, but by the time Return of the Jedi rolled around the actress was forced to starve herself down to 98 pounds to wear the infamous “slave Leia” costume. (She’s recently mentioned being forced to lose weight for The Force Awakens as well, something co-star Mark Hamill also reportedly had to contend with.) Recounting her time on the original films, Fisher described how she was “the only girl on the all-boy’s set.” Things are clearly different this time around, and Fisher highlighted the strength of Daisy Ridley’s Rey as an example. “She takes the physical power, and then I scream at [the men] until they pass out.”

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