Could you think about “Laverne & Shirley” with out Cindy Williams within the latter function? Had George Lucas gone with the younger lady who performed Laurie Henderson, the girlfriend of Ron Howard’s Steve Bolander in “American Graffiti,” as Leia, Penny Marshall would’ve been doing it her means in Milwaukee with another person.
You can watch Williams’ screen test on YouTube, and she or he’s fairly good! Why did Lucas go in one other path?
Perhaps as a result of there’s an air of self-parody to Williams’ line readings. She’s exchanging dialogue with an off-screen Han Solo, and she or he appears on the verge of a giggle match as she delivers the road in regards to the Death Star’s planet-destroying energy. Perhaps, after eight seasons of “Laverne & Shirley,” you are primed to giggle at Williams’ each utterance. This is not to say she could not deal with drama: her small however important efficiency in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” is startling. Her, “He’d kill us if he got the chance” lights the fuse that results in Gene Hackman’s detonation.
She might’ve nailed Leia. She might’ve performed a lot extra. But she was our Shirley, and we’ll by no means cease loving her.