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Paul Simon Recalls Being ‘Exhausted’ in 1-Year ‘Whirlwind’ Marriage to Carrie Fisher
Paul Simon is looking back at his one-year marriage with Carrie Fisher and admitted he was “exhausted” by the end of it.
The singer-songwriter, 82, candidly spoke about the “whirlwind” relationship with the Star Wars actress in the new documentary, In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, which premiered on MGM+ on March 17.
“Carrie was much more show business oriented,” Paul told cameras. “I went along with that — that’s the world that she grew up with; she was used to it. She was used to a lot of press and things like that. It wasn’t intimidating or anything. She knew how to manipulate it and make it work for her. She was really good at it, and I wasn’t.”
Paul and Carrie met in the late 70s while the actress was filming the first installment in the Star Wars franchise. The pair married in 1983 and Carrie became a stepmother to Paul’s child from a previous relationship, Harper Simon. Unfortunately, their marriage did not last and they announced their divorce only a year later. “The Sound of Silence” singer admitted during the docuseries that he was “exhausted” by “emotional upheaval” by the time of their split.
“I mean, what was I thinking? Certainly not thinking about life, you know, that you actually like have to stop,” Paul revealed. “Marriage is very… it’s a hard thing to do. You have to concentrate on — not everything can happen at once, not everything is a media event. All types of mistakes on top of mistakes on top of mistakes.”
Lorne Michaels, who served as best man during Simon’s wedding to Carrie, said things were “complicated” between the two stars as they were two individuals at the peaks of their careers.
“All of it was kind of a whirlwind,” he explained. “Carrie was in a complete fame bubble because of Star Wars.”
The Hook star, who died at 60 years old in 2016, shared her thoughts about marriage to Paul in her 2008 memoir, Wishful Drinking, admitting she agreed it was “the wrong thing to do.”
“Well, because I think, if you look at me, at the most, you can think I’m an interesting girlfriend. But a wife? I think you’re going to be disappointed,” she wrote. “Poor Paul. He had to put up with a lot with me. I think ultimately, I fell into the heading ‘good anecdote, bad reality.’ I was really good for material, but when it came to day-to-day living, I was a little more than he could take.”
While the pair dated on and off after their marriage, Simon later married Edie Brickell in 1992 and went on to welcome three children: Adrian Edward, Lulu and Gabriel Elijah. Meanwhile, Carrie went on to date talent agent, Bryan Lourd from 1991 to 1994 and they had one child together, actress Billie Lourd.
