Speaking with Fandango, Rogue One director Gareth Edwards revealed how the late Carrie Fisher thought the portrayal of Princess Leia in the film was taken from previous unused footage recorded decades ago for Star Wars. She was unaware that Leia was recreated completely as a digital character for the standalone film given the stunning likeness achieved by the masterminds at ILM.

When Fandango sat down to discuss Rogue One with its director Gareth Edwards in advance of the film arriving on digital platforms like FandangoNOW (March 24) and Blu-ray (April 4), we asked him what Fisher thought of the digital re-creation, and if he was there when she saw it for the first time.

“Kathy [Kennedy] is really good friends with her. We knew it was a really important moment and we wanted Carrie to be happy, so Kathy went to her house with her laptop when we felt the shot was close, if not finished. We had about two weeks left, and Kathy went around her house and everyone was waiting to hear. [Kathy] said she showed it to her and [Carrie] thought it was footage. She didn’t realize it was CGI. She thought we had some footage. She didn’t remember the take and thought we had manipulated a take from the original film. But they told her it was all computer generated and she was really impressed. We were all just so pleased she approved it.”