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Fisher Priceless

Carrie Fisher may not really have the power to turn men gay, but she does have a gift for turning gay lemons into lemonade in Wishful Drinking, her autobiographical solo show that’s been filmed for a new HBO special.

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In a 2004 interview with The Advocate, actress-author Carrie Fisher recalled her teenage crushes on the gay men who danced backup for her mother, Debbie Reynolds. “They were gorgeous and kind and fun and interested in me,” she said. “That was who I started smoking dope with and who I wanted to fit in with.” As we discover in Wishful Drinking — her 2008 memoir and subsequent solo act about her family drama, bipolar disorder, and Pez dispenser–friendly past as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise — her relationship with gay men only got stronger and stranger. Directed by World of Wonder’s Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, the gay partners behind Party Monster and The Eyes of Tammy Faye, a live taping of Wishful Drinking premieres Sunday, December 12, on HBO. We caught up with the 54-year-old firecracker to discuss her gay ex-husband, her gay poltergeist, and John Travolta’s latest sex scandal.


The Advocate: It’s one thing to air out your dirty laundry in a book, and it’s quite another to tell your story to a crowd of 1,000 people a night on Broadway. But how does it feel to now have your most personal, intimate struggles captured on film for the ages?

Carrie Fisher: Sometimes I don’t think of what it is I’m doing. That’s how I do things — by pretending it’s not happening.

The audiences at your Broadway show were always packed with gay fans. Were you at all surprised by that support?
Oh, no. You guys better be supportive because I’ve spent my life with you. My mother’s whole nightclub act had gay backup dancers. When I was 13 and started doing my mother’s show, I was with them all the time. I got my first kiss from a gay man. And second. And third.

At each performance, you picked someone from the audience to come join you on stage to play with a life-size Princess Leia doll. From what I hear, it was very often a gay guy. Was that just a coincidence, or has your gaydar sharpened in recent years?
Well, I think gay guys feel a little more comfortable with me. They could decide whether they wanted to come up or not, but gay people are a little more open to doing weird things.

Gay male fans must be a breath of fresh air for you. So many straight guys and lesbians worship Princess Leia as an object of young lust, but I couldn’t really care less about Star Wars. Sure, I’ll play with your doll, but I’m pretty confident that I’m not the only gay man who would much rather talk about Soapdish and your attendance at Madonna’s wedding to Sean Penn.
[Laughs] Yeah, that’s true. Star Wars isn’t a very fertile area for me and gay men to discuss. I didn’t have a good enough costume for a drag Leia. Gay men really respond to any of the goofy stuff I’ve done — even fucking Under the Rainbow. Anything that’s incredibly stupid. Wasn’t the joke in Soapdish that I had some young stud in my office? That was good.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: vdi@gmail.com
    Date posted: 2/21/2011 4:34:12 PM
    Hometown: idyllwild, ca

    Comment:

    dearest la coquito, don't be angry that some of us not gay people do not always word things p.c. if you read all of carrie's work you will know that she has no unkind or evil intentions, she just is, as you are.

  • Name: Thomas
    Date posted: 2/1/2011 2:05:25 PM
    Hometown: San Francisco

    Comment:

    Way back in the 80's when ACT UP was outing people, there was a major national discussion about when it is ok/not ok to out someone. The broad consensus determination was that no closeted person should be outed unless that closet-case was also persecuting homosexuality or homosexual people. There is no moral distinction between famous or non-famous people. Under these guidelines John Travolta, Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise do not qualify for outing, and all gays everywhere ought to react with strong disapproval when the outers don't employ this moral guideline. Carrie should be ashamed of herself for growing up with gays and not already knowing this.

  • Name: LA COQUITO
    Date posted: 12/21/2010 11:55:34 AM
    Hometown: Coconut Grove

    Comment:

    Dearest Wabbbit - in my country we have a saying, "dime con quien andas y te diré quien eres" which liberally translated into your language means tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you what YOU are. Let's not forget that Aniston met Pitt through Melissa Etheridge. Get the picture? I also seem to recall that Bradley's sexuality was the object of an exposé many years ago, even on Entertainment Tonight, which back then was still G rated and not yet tabloid trash. Hollywood's gay marriages and purported affairs have existed since the silent days and continue today. Or do you really believe that the marriage of Mr. Pitt and Miss Jolie is your average heterosexual marriage? Either you are very naive or your gaydar (and I hate that word!) is not working properly. In your own country you have a saying also: "it takes one to know one" Well sweetie, it takes a dyke like me to spot a dyke like Aniston anywhere anytime. Even if the straights do not. Are you straight? You must be! Because for the life of me I just can't fathom a gay person believing for one second that Aniston is straight.

  • Name: Wascally Wabbit
    Date posted: 12/18/2010 12:50:55 AM
    Hometown: Honolulu

    Comment:

    Coquito, little coconut, where do you get off saying Jennifer Anniston is gay? Celebrity beards? You mean like her seven year relationship with Brad Pitt? All I can say is that woman is thorough. Choosing to conduct her forty or so years of life as a heterosexual with numerous long term and short term relationships with men. People like Gerald Butler really come off like someone who wants to hang around in a sexless relationship. John Mayer too. I guess they're all gay. Maybe Santa Claus is gay too. And the elves. Why stop at Jennifer Anniston. Maybe every single celebrity in the world is gay. Tell us about it, Coquito.

  • Name: ohmygay.tumblr.com
    Date posted: 12/17/2010 3:28:54 PM
    Hometown: Toronto

    Comment:

    Maybe if John Travolta wasn't so actively involved in Scientology and had not contributed boat loads of money to a religion (aka cult) that believes it can cure homosexuality I would say that his sexual orientation is his own business. However, that is not the case. When someone wants to financially back an organization that works against the Queer community then that person's sexual orientation and personal life is open for scrutiny. Sorry sweatheart you can't finance and organization that seeks to screw the Queer community and then turn around and screw one of us and expect it to be okay and quiet. Doesn't work like that thanks.

  • Name: Dave N.
    Date posted: 12/16/2010 7:48:54 AM
    Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

    Comment:

    Sasha, it seems that YOU need to read a little more carefully. The interviewer recalls "In the September 2009 issue of Out, you participated in its monthly Can I Be Blunt? column by sharing 10 things that gay men should know about straight women. One of those things was, “We don’t really care that John Travolta is gay.” This would indicate that Fisher fully acknowledges the fact. And on a more personal note, Travolta has had sex with two of my friends (male) and, indeed, it WAS in spas both times. I also worked with an ex boyfriend of his. Don't go ASSuming everyone is straight just because you find such a notion comforting.

  • Name: sasha
    Date posted: 12/16/2010 1:32:49 AM
    Hometown: seattle

    Comment:

    Hey hold it !- she never said he was gay. read it carefully- she says "we know and we dont care" she means we know the truth- and its irrelevant. -the truth is that he is not gay and that it does not matter...

  • Name: David
    Date posted: 12/13/2010 9:46:55 AM
    Hometown: Grand Rapids

    Comment:

    Great interview - Carrie has learned that you had better recognize the truth and get on with it - "Wishful Drinking" on HBO is not to be missed - incredible that she survived all that she did. Great job, Carrie - you've never broken any contract with us.

  • Name: Outer Limits
    Date posted: 12/13/2010 1:33:51 AM
    Hometown: Visalia, CA

    Comment:

    I would agree with those who say Travolta's sexuality is no one's business but his. However, the line gets grayer when considering that Travolta is a big-time Scientologist exemplar. And most everyone know knows that Scientology is anti-gay. That bit of hypocrisy might open an avatar of any religion or cult (is there a difference?) to scrutiny, consider the torture which religious groups heap on the gays.

  • Name: Jeff Eastwood
    Date posted: 12/12/2010 5:20:29 PM
    Hometown: New Orleans

    Comment:

    Just watched Sorority Row last night. Unfortunately, Carrie isn't in it enough but it's a very good movie, nonetheless.



 
 
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