The magazine had reached out to Los Angeles-based photographer Aaron Rapoport to tackle the assignment. Despite windy conditions, a crowded beach and three costumed subjects lumbering through the sand, the shoot resulted in a classic cover photo and showcased Fisher at the height of her “Star Wars” popularity. 

“Most of what drove it was Carrie herself,” Rapoport told SFGATE by phone, “because she was such an incredible person, full of positivity and energy. I have done a lot of cover shoots but this one was really different. It was very joyous.”

Amazingly, Rolling Stone only published two photos from the shoot, and the rest of the imagery went unseen for decades. Rapoport later excavated the shots from his basement to sell to Corbis around 2014, and the photos slowly found their way — through tweets, blog posts and subreddits — to “Star Wars” fans around the world.

Fisher died in 2016, but this week, she will get a (long overdue) star dedicated to her legacy on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on “Star Wars” Day — May the 4th. The story of her Stinson Beach photo shoot (as well as the photos themselves) speaks to the exuberance and personality that she brought to the screen through her films, as well as the challenges she faced along the way. 

‘Star Wars’ day at the beach

As “Return of the Jedi” was quickly shaping up to be the biggest movie of the 1983 summer, Rolling Stone magazine hoped to feature a “Star Wars”-themed cover on their summer double issue slated for late July.

“In those days the cover was the big trophy for a photographer,” Rapoport told SFGATE. “I wasn’t an Annie Leibovitz kind of shooter, but they would call me when there was a difficult shoot that had to be done quickly. And they specifically asked me for a beach picnic theme.”

Although the interview with Fisher — in which she grapples with the perception of Princess Leia as “some kind of space bitch” — was conducted in New York, the magazine scheduled the photo shoot around a time when many of the cast members would be at Skywalker Ranch, near Nicasio in west Marin County. With a beach theme in mind, Stinson became a logical choice for location.

Rapoport was just 26 at the time (the same age as Fisher), but had apprenticed with photography veteran David Alexander, who often shot high-profile figures within the entertainment industry. When it came to interacting with Fisher, Rapoport’s initial introduction to her was right on the sand at Stinson.  

“We met on the beach and immediately hit it off,” says Rapoport. “There was none of the reticence or stand-offishness or any of the bulls—t that you get so often with actors. She was absolutely confident and totally willing.” 

Unsurprisingly for a beach-themed “Return of the Jedi” photo shoot, Fisher wore the now-iconic, and controversial, metal bikini “slave girl” costume, which has become a cosplay mainstay over the years. In Fisher’s interview with Rolling Stone that summer, she speaks candidly about how her character is represented in Jedi: “She gets to be more feminine, more supportive, more affectionate. But let’s not forget these movies are basically boys’ fantasies. So the other way they made her more female in this one was to have her take her clothes off.” 

Fisher was accompanied for the shoot by three fully costumed “Star Wars” characters: Darth Vader (though Rapoport was unsure whether actor David Prowse had occupied the costume that day), the gray Ewok Kazak and a Gamorrean guard — the green-skinned, pig-like henchmen who watch over Jabba the Hutt’s palace (and who Star Wars fans have joked look like the offspring of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy). 

Rapoport was born in Marin and lived in the area until he was 10, then spent summers there with family, so he was thrilled to be shooting a high profile subject in such a sublime setting. Yet the location also came with its share of hurdles.

“It was high summer, so the light wasn’t good,” explains Rapoport, “and the wind at Stinson kept the sand blowing. There were also just a lot of people there.” 

Including the photo crew, the “Star Wars” support staff and the park rangers, Rapoport remembers nearly 20 people being involved in orchestrating the shoot. This quickly translated into a spectacle as summer daytrippers encountered Princess Leia and Darth Vader occupying a beach blanket at Stinson. (A photo which often surfaces on this topic shows a girl sitting nearby in the sand intently observing Fisher.)

“People recognized all the characters and were definitely enthusiastic about ‘Star Wars,’ but they weren’t manic or screaming,” Rapoport recalls. “It would have been horrible on a beach in Southern California, but I think Bay Area people at that time had a much more casual and warm sort of vibe.”

Rapoport quickly maneuvered the group through a series of shots on the beach party theme, and Fisher’s all-in approach shows in the pics, from lifting the Ewok off the ground in a bear hug to posing fully enveloped in Vader’s black cape. Ultimately, it was Fisher’s idea that would render the most well-known images of the entire shoot. 

“I turned to her and said, ‘Look how beautiful the water is,’” explains Rapoport, “and she said, ‘You want me to go in? ’ It was her idea and she was fearless about it. That was how we ended the day actually, and she was just on fire.”

‘The Force was with us on that shoot’

Years later, at a Star Wars convention in 2012, Fisher expressed fond memories for the Stinson Beach shoot and would retweet fans who posted images from the series. She eventually used an image of herself in the surf as one of just three pictures on the About page of her personal website. 

As for her perceptions of the (in)famous metal bikini, Fisher has said that she was initially “aghast” upon first seeing it during the filming of Jedi. However, she defended the outfit years later and expressed her own interpretations of its meaning during an interview with the Wall Street Journal: “A giant slug captured me and forced me to wear that stupid outfit, and then I killed him because I didn’t like it. And then I took it off. Backstage.” She wrote in her memoir, “The Princess Diarist,” that the scene was her favorite of her personal film history,.

Rapoport regards the Stinson Beach photo shoot as one of his favorite professional experiences, even after a long career photographing high-profile subjects such as Bruce Springsteen, Miles Davis and Keanu Reeves.

“It ranks at the very top, mostly because of Carrie, but also because the Bay Area is where my heart is,” Rapoport says. “The Force was with us on that shoot.”