I noticed something during a recent rewatch of Return of the Jedi—Leia has one fingernail that’s noticeably longer than the others. It’s most visible in the scenes at Jabba’s palace. It threw me off at first, so I decided to look into it a bit, and here’s what I found.
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The “Coke Nail” Theory—and Carrie Fisher’s Response
There’s been a lot of talk over the years about whether that long nail was a “coke nail.” That’s the first thing that crossed my mind too, especially since Carrie Fisher was so open about her drug use back in the day.
But here’s the thing—she addressed it directly. She said, “I never used my fingernail for drugs. I used dollars or tiny spoons like any other respectable former drug addict.”
That’s it. Straight from her. And knowing how honest she always was, I believe her. She never really tried to hide what she went through, so there’s no reason to think she’d suddenly lie about a fingernail.
Carrie Fisher Was Always Straightforward About Her Past
Carrie talked openly about her struggles with addiction. She even said she used cocaine during the Empire Strikes Back shoot—especially during the Hoth scenes, which were freezing. She later admitted she didn’t even like coke that much but still used it.
So when she said the long nail wasn’t about that, I took her word for it. She didn’t need to dance around it or make excuses. She already told the world way more serious stuff than this.
Not Just One Long Nail—The Others Might’ve Been Shorter
After looking closely, I realized it might not be that one nail is unusually long. It’s actually more like her middle and ring fingers are trimmed shorter. The rest look fairly normal.
It could’ve been just a grooming thing. Maybe she broke a nail or just liked keeping a couple short. It doesn’t really stand out unless you’re looking for it.
So the nail that people think is “long” might just look that way because the others are shorter.