‘Carrie Fisher Means Freedom.’ Star Wars’ John Boyega Misses Princess Leia As Much As You

Carrie Fisher’s final film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, won’t be in theaters until December, but her co-stars are already talking about her performance.

In a recent interview with Variety, John Boyega shared a very sweet message about Fisher’s hilarious frankness and enduring influence.

Boyega, whose work as Finn, a stormtrooper-turned-rebel warrior in Star Wars: The Force Awakens propelled him to stardom, had some incredible kind words for the PhD-scholar-turned-princess-turned-general. “Carrie Fisher means freedom,” he told the magazine. “She influenced people to be authentic and say what you want, however you want. I’ll miss her energy.”

Boyega, who can now be seen in Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit, also seems to admire Fisher’s notoriously sharp sense of humor and honesty. “You were always going to hear Carrie Fisher somewhere saying something that she has no business saying, that makes everybody laugh,” he said.

Not only is Fisher missed on the set, but her character General Leia Organa, will be missed by the Resistance in The Last Jedi. “The Resistance isn’t in the best condition,” Boyega told Variety. “Things are shaky.” While he couldn’t say much more about the plot, he did drop the vaguest of hints. “It’s a chance for each character to decide what side they’re on and decide what they’re fighting for,” he says. “It’s an epic dark story. At the same time it’s still fun. It’s still Star Wars.”