Carrie Fisher Was Pressured To Lose Weight For Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Carrie Fisher says she was told to lose over 35 lbs. to reprise her role as Leia in the highly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The actress, 59, talked about the emphasis on female actresses to lose weight in Hollywood, and said that it hasn't changed since she starred in movies 38 years ago.

"They don't want to hire all of me – only about three-quarters!" Fisher told Good Housekeeping U.K."Nothing changes, it's an appearance-driven thing. I'm in a business where the only thing that matters is weight and appearance. That is so messed up. They might as well say get younger, because that's how easy it is."'

She did what was requested, and changed her workouts and nutrition to slim down.

"I did it the same way everybody has to – don't eat and exercise more! There is no other way to do it," she says. "I have a harder time eating properly than I do exercising. It's easier for me to add an activity than to deny myself something."

But the actress/writer said that slimming down left her conflicted:

"When I do lose the weight, I don't like that it makes me feel good about myself. It's not who I am," she explains. "My problem is they talk to me like an actress but I hear them like a writer."

Fisher advised The Force Awakens actress Daisy Ridley to avoid getting forced into a "sex symbol" role — like Fisher in 1983's Return of the Jedi, when she wore the iconic gold bikini.

Read:6 Amazing Facts About Carrie Fisher