Carrie Fisher’s life has been “Hollywood: the extreme edition.” Her father, 1950s crooner Eddie Fisher, left her movie star mother, Debbie Reynolds, for Elizabeth Taylor when Carrie was two. At 20 she ap­peared in Star Wars and became a cul­tural icon, only to sink into a swamp of pills. She married and divorced Paul Simon, dated Dan Aykroyd and had a daughter with an agent who left her for a man. Somewhere along the way she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Now, having successfully launched a one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, she’s come to terms with her past.

I don’t regret . . .
 . . . having electroconvulsive therapy.
It has such a bad stigma, I initially said, “Absolutely not. There’s no way I’m going to have huge seizures and forget everything.” But it is not like that. It’s been very helpful. I have not had depression since I first had [the procedure] two years ago.

 . . . not telling George Lucas I thought Princess Leia’s hairstyle looked idiotic.
Because now it’s funny!

 . . . agreeing to wear a gold metal bikini back in the day.
Thank god I have a record of when my body looked good!

 . . . going to the Nixon White House when I was 15.
I did not want to go. But now I have a hilarious picture of me, my mom and the Nixons, signed “May all your dreams come true. Love, Richard Nixon.” I wanted to write him a letter that said, “I dreamed you were impeached.”

 . . . much at all, because regretting is sort of like self-pity.
I regret that I made other people worry. But my weaknesses have become my strengths. If something was difficult for me, having to find a way to live with it—even celebrate it—is what makes my life good today.