Star Wars: The Last Jedi is nearly upon us, and as the latest instalment in the franchise hits cinemas, the loss of Carrie Fisher – who played Princess Leia since the first Star Wars film A New Hope – is on everyone's minds, including her co-stars and colleagues.
Carrie filmed for The Last Jedi before her death in 2016, making this her final filmed appearance in the series.
"She's irreplaceable," Mark Hamill said (via Reuters). "It's like every fan was dreaming of the day that The Beatles would reunite, and then we lost John. It's just unbearably sad."
Carrie died in December 2016 at age 60 from cardiac arrest. She is survived by her daughter, actress Billie Lourd.
Mark continued: "In a way it's sort of – Star Wars is about great triumph, and great tragedy, and I can't think of a greater tragedy than missing our Leia."
Carrie's other co-stars have also opened up about the poignancy of the film following her death in the video.
"I think there is a sense that she understands – this is the character in the film – and I think the mirroring to life is uncanny, that she's not going to be around forever," Oscar Isaac, who plays Poe Dameron added.
"There's a passing of the torch thats going to happen."
While the future of Princess Leia in the upcoming Star Wars films is yet to be decided, director of The Last Jedi Rian Johnson insists that this instalment will "mean a lot to fans".
"You are going to see some stuff with Leia that you haven't seen before," he said. "However it gets handled in the future I'm very thankful that we have this film."
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released on 14 December, 2017.
