Soon after, Fisher enrolled at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, which she attended for 18 months. She made her film debut in the Columbia comedy Shampoo (1975) starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie and Goldie Hawn, with Lee Grant and Jack Warden. In 1977, Fisher starred as Princess Leia Organa in George Lucas' sci-fi film Star Wars opposite Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, a part she claims to have obtained by sleeping "with some nerd"

The huge success of Star Wars made her internationally famous. The character of Princess Leia became a merchandising triumph; there were small plastic action figures of the Princess in toy stores across the United States. She appeared as Princess Leia in the 1978 made-for-TV movie, The Star Wars Holiday Special. Fisher hosted the Saturday Night Live episode that included the second performance by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as their popular Blues Brothers characters.

Fisher appeared in the music video for Ringo Starr's cover o