Carrie Fisher’s iconic Princess Leia is to be given an “amazing send-off” in the character’s final Star Wars film The Last Jedi, according to co-star John Boyega.

The young London-born actor, who plays Finn, revealed to American broadcaster ABC in a new interview this week that he shares “many scenes” with Fisher in the upcoming eighth instalment of the Star Wars saga, The Last Jedi, and that the franchise “keeps her alive”.

Fisher died suddenly in December 2016 at the age of 60, and her final big-screen performance will come in The Last Jedi when it is released in cinemas at the end of this year. She had already completed filming her role in the movie at the time of her death, meaning no digital trickery has had to be used, but Leia will have no part in the ninth and final film set for 2019, and Boyega was asked about her final appearances and how the production team had treated it.

Carrie FisherCarrie Fisher is to get an "amazing" send-off in 'The Last Jedi', according to Boyega

“It sends her off in a very amazing way,” the 25 year old star revealed. “She is still kept alive in this franchise and that's the beauty of it - she lives forever in a sense.”

Boyega was promoting his upcoming film Detroit in the interview, but the discussion of course turned to his part in The Last Jedi. There were hundreds of thousands of tributes paid in the wake of Fisher’s death, which came just days after she was taken ill on a flight from London to Los Angeles with a cardiac arrest.

“It was a strange, strange feeling,” he remembered about how he felt when he learned of Fisher’s death, when he was on vacation in Nigeria with family. “I felt like everybody in the cast and obviously around the world [and] went silent for a bit.”

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Finn was last seen doing battle with Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens, and the only trailer thusfar for The Last Jedi has him apparently recovering from his injuries.

Boyega found global superstardom with his role in Star Wars, and was asked about how he’s coping with the pressures of the spotlight.

“I've still been able to maintain a sort of force-field around my personal life,” he said of his privacy. “I still get to go to the grocery store and do my own shopping… One thing I do like doing is 1:30am, I go out and go do some late night shopping at a food store or something.”

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