Princess Leia Organa’stemporary British accent inA New Hopehas always been quite confusing, butStar Warsfinally has the perfect explanation for it. As the very first installment ofStar Wars’movies and TV shows,A New Hopewas taking many risks and doing considerable world-building. While much of that work has influencedtheStar Warstimelinefor generations to come, some moments inA New Hopeare better left forgotten.
One example of something better overlooked inA New Hopewas Leia’s brief use of a British accent during the scathing line,“I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board,“delivered to Governor Tarkin. In fact, Carrie Fisher herself previously joked about how odd it was for Leia to use the accent in just one scene and then never again. However,Star Warshas perfectly retconned Leia’s British accent, and now it finally makes sense.
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Carrie Fisher’s Temporary British Accent Has Been Retconned
InA New Hope, Leia’s accent seems like a strange one-off. However,Star Warshas since retconned this moment to suggest thatLeia was really mocking Tarkin’s own accent in this scene. Specifically, in the canon bookStar Wars: Bloodline, written by Claudia Gray, Leia’s true intentions at this moment are revealed. According toMovieWeb, Gray explained:
“So there’s an explanation in [Bloodline] that she’s actually making fun of Tarkin. She’s mocking his accent in that moment. She remembers that’s what she was doing. So that moment has been explained. It’s no longer a problem. It’s never too late to fix a plot hole. Hopefully,Carrie Fisherwould be pleased by that. It had a meaning the whole time.”
This change perfectly takes a somewhat awkward acting choice and turns it into a brilliant moment that reinforces the personality of the character.
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Of course, this is only the in-universe reason. In truth, Carrie Fisher has revealed in interviews that she was told by none other than George Lucas that Leia should seem"really upset"in the scene. According to Fisher, when she became really upset, she became British. Of course, Fisher said this with her typical charming sense of humor, so the extent to which that is accurate remains unclear. Nevertheless,at least in-universe,Star Warshas brilliantly explained away this odd moment.
This Is A Perfect Star Wars Rewrite
Changing this scene to make it so that Leia was really mocking Tarkin truly is the perfect revision. In fact, this even fits into the scene, as Tarkin smirks after her statement and sarcastically refers to Leia as"charming.“It is easy to imagine that he responds in this way because he picks up on the fact that she is mocking him. More importantly, though, this really would have been quite like Leia. Even in the face of being imprisoned by the Empire, Leia would have had a sharp tongue.
What makes this even better is that, as Claudia Gray mentioned, Carrie Fisher would likely have enjoyed this explanation for her British accent slip. Like her character, Fisher had a witty, sarcastic sense of humor; both the actress and the character would no doubt have been happy to taunt an Imperial officer in this way. Although a small moment, this reveal in Claudia Gray’sBloodlineperfectly addressedPrincess Leia Organa’spreviously odd British accent slip inA New Hope.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
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Star Wars is a seminal science fiction film released in 1977 that follows the quest of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo to rescue Princess Leia from the oppressive Imperial forces. They are aided by the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, as they strive to restore peace to the galaxy.
