Any decades-long fandom knows that children are the future for any long-standing IP. Thankfully, “Star Wars” is still hip with the youngsters, including 12-year-old actress Vivien Lyra Blair. Blair plays a young Princess Leia, originally portrayed by the late Carrie Fisher, in the series “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Co-starring alongside Ewan McGregor as the titular character.
In a recent interview, she laid out her vision for a “Star Wars” show centering Leia as she grows into the badass rebel we all know and love.
Her Pitch
“I almost feel like it could be really fun to do some sort of a teenage Leia,” Blair told Collider. “I’ve said it in a few interviews, and I’ve had some people be like, ‘No, don’t need it.’ Yes, we do. We need less male-centric Star Wars. We need more women because we need a strong female Star Wars Universe. I love that. So, I think it could be actually really fun. I really enjoyed how they did Skeleton Crew of almost like a Goonies/Stranger Things-esque show that was definitely for teens, but it was centered around Star Wars, and I think it could be really cool to do something like that, emulating some sort of teen show but with characters that we know, like Leia. Something almost like The Summer I Turned Pretty, XO, Kitty-esque show where it’s almost a high school romance kind of show but with Leia on the Junior Senate. I think it would be difficult to execute with proper writing, but it could be really fun to do something like that and really bring in more of that type of audience.”
Some fans have already pointed out that this sounds a bit like “Leia, Princess of Alderaan” by Claudia Gray. If that’s the case, we commend her on researching the role enough to be familiar with the EU. However, Blair wanting to follow a teen Leia in the Junior Senate would be a logical bridge between the series and movies. So these similarities may be a coincidence.
More Blair as Leia?
Blair also confirmed that she will not appear in the upcoming second season of “Andor.” “I unfortunately don’t have anything in Andor Season 2, so you will not be seeing me there,” she explains. “Because I think Leia, around the time of Andor, is 14 to 15, and I’ll be 13 in two months. So, it would have to be in a little bit. I’ve seen some people have arguments online before where they’ll be like, ‘She’s too young,’ but also I look really young, so I feel like a lot of people forget.”
But just because she isn’t in “Andor” doesn’t mean she isn’t down to play Leia outside of “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
“So, I think a lot of people still see me as this small eight-year-old child,” she laments. “I’m not! I’m going to be a teenager in two months. But yeah, I think it could be really fun to do something like that. But as far as Leia, there’s nothing much, really, we can do unless there’s a way to letter bomb Lucasfilm. But I think for now we’ll just have to leave it up to fate for something like that.”
So we are starting a letter-writing campaign to Lucasfilm to make this happen, right?
“Andor” Season 2 hits Disney+ on April 22nd.
