Lando, Luke, and Leia (non-CGI) return for Star Wars: Episode IX

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Lucasfilm took the wraps off the primary players for the next Star Wars film on Friday, and the studio is wasting no time clarifying a key player in the film: Carrie Fisher.

A statement from Star Wars: Episode IX director and co-writer J.J. Abrams confirms that the character of Princess Leia will be played by the actor thanks to "previously unreleased footage"-and that these scenes were filmed during the making of 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as opposed to 2017's The Last Jedi.

"Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us," Abrams wrote in the statement. "We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie's legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII."

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