Age: 54
Occupation: Author, screenwriter and actress
Previous TIME 100 appearances: 0
From Star Wars to Broadway star, Carrie Fisher has succeeded in shaking her Princess Leia persona to let her raw writing talents shine. Fisher grew up in the Hollywood crowd as both a child actor and daughter of Debbie Reynolds, which later became fodder for her popular — and highly personal — autobiographical novels. Wishful Drinking, Fisher's second novel, not only provided intimate and poignant details of her struggle with bipolar disorder and addiction but also took her to Broadway to perform in an acclaimed one-woman show, which was made into an HBO special in 2010. Her third novel, titled Shockaholic, is set to be released in December and explores Fisher's foray into electroshock therapy, which helped to relieve some of the worst symptoms of her illness, but as she explains, the benefits of the treatment are not without cost.