Carrie Fisher’s ‘Have a Good Trip’ Interview is Hilarious and Bittersweet

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that Carrie Fisher is the greatest of all time. That’s simply a fact. But just in case you need additional evidence, I implore you to watch Fisher’s interview in the new documentary Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics, which released on Netflix today.

Directed by Donick Cary, who is best known as a comedy writer, this documentary is essentially just a collection of drug anecdotes from various celebrities, including Ben Stiller, Sting, A$AP Rocky, Sarah Silverman, and more. But it’s clear that Cary filmed these interviews some time ago, because Fisher, who died in 2016, and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who died in 2018, are both featured in the movie.

Fisher’s interview, which comes at about the 30-minute mark, took place in her home in Beverly Hills. Fisher wryly called it an “acid house,” thanks to her collection of psychedelic-esque knick-knacks. Curled up on her big leather chair, she begins her story by telling the camera, “To me, it’s so hilarious to have like ‘drug anecdotes.’ The very nature of what you’re asking—if you’re doing drugs the right way, you can’t tell an orderly story.”

But the actor, writer, and comedian did her best. She launched into a story about the time she went took a trip, in more ways than one, to the island country of Seychelles.

“I would organize trips to places in the world simply to take acid there,” Fisher explained. “I would do these things and forget that I looked like someone named Princess Leia, or whatever I was for people.”

Once Fisher arrived, she took LSD and went down to the beach. “There was no one else on the beach. I’m with my Super 8 movie camera—that’s when this was—and I’m filming my friend. As this is going along, suddenly I sense that… there’s been a disturbance in the force.” At this point, Fisher sighed and dropped her head into her hands. “Don’t put that in. I turn around. And, by the way, I’m—I can’t imagine that I’m nude, but certainly, I’m topless. We turn around, and there are a busload of Japanese folk that have just arrived. It turns out where we are—it’s where they bring the tourists to have lunch from all the hotels!”

Fisher laughed, and said, “I am at that time, I believe, Princess Leia, in a profound way. And not clothed.”

It’s a hilarious story made better by the fact that Fisher is such a warm, funny storyteller. Each Have a Good Trip anecdote comes with an animated or live-action reenactment, and for Fisher, it was both. But Fisher is so naturally charming and witty, I found myself wishing Cary would drop the shtick for this one, to just let us appreciate a rare, precious moment with Fisher. (No shade to comedian Natasha Legerro, who plays Fisher in the reenactment, of course.)

At the same time, as funny as it is, listening to Fisher talk about her drug problem is sobering. “I think I heard about acid from John Belushi,” she said. “At that point, I didn’t have a problem with drugs. I had not gotten into the drug zone that would ultimately prove to be my downfall, which would be opiates.” While it’s not clear whether drugs contributed to Fisher’s fatal heart attack in 2016, her daughter Bille Lourd has stated that her mother’s struggle with drugs and mental health contributed to her death.

But according to Fisher, taking acid eased some of her symptoms of bipolar disorder. There is some research to suggest that LSD can be used to treat depression and anxiety.

“I took acid and went, ‘Oh. I see. This makes sense,'” Fisher explained. “And in fact, when I was first told I was bipolar—I went in to see a doctor and I said, ‘I felt normal on acid.'”

Watch Have a Good Trip on Netflix