Leia Forman

**Overview** • History • Gallery

**Leia Anne Forman**, portrayed by Callie Haverda, is the main protagonist of ***That '90s Show***. A newcomer to the Gang, the ex-girlfriend of Jay Kelso, and the granddaughter of Red and Kitty Forman. She is also best friends with Gwen Runck, Ozzie, Jay Kelso, Nate Runck and Nikki.

Leia is originally from Chicago, and took debate as an elective. During the summer of 1995, Leia visited her grandparents' place in Point Place, Wisconsin, and decided to stay after she quickly bonded with a new group of neighborhood teenagers. Her new friends helped her come out of her shell, despite the fact that she thought they were all way cooler than she was.

## Personality and traits

Raised in Chicago, Illinois, Leia was timid, socially withdrawn and extremely cautious of other people. However, she became fiercely protective and showed unyielding loyalty towards those who cared for her, especially to Jay, whom she fell in love with. Despite her life being clouded with people who didn't have her best interest at heart, Leia is shown to be incredibly empathetic, sweet, and curious about the world.

Leia is very smart, but snarky and she loves to go on adventures even if it ends with her being lost in the woods. Her somewhat sheltered life has left her incredibly emotional, becoming distraught easily in overwhelming settings. As she grows older, Leia never loses her compassion, but begins to be careful on who to extend that compassion to. Leia's friends and family are her upmost priority, willing to do anything and everything for them.

## Abilities

* **Expert Debater**: Leia is a very talented debater. She was shown to possess excellent skills and has a conversation tactic. She was able to talk her way into getting a tap for a keg, despite being only fourteen years old.

## Relationships

### Familial

#### Donna Pinciotti

Leia had a deep and affectionate relationship with her mother. Unlike Eric, she encouraged Leia to do what makes her happy, while allowing her to express herself through her clothing, choices, and interests. Although she was quite busy, she tried making time to spend with Leia. She rushed over to the Forman's house with things needed to engage in intercourse, despite Leia not being involved. She also tried her best to understand Leia and how she was feeling, simply because everything happened to her in almost the same way, and Leia nonetheless appreciates the effort.

#### Eric Forman

Eric was somewhat unsupportive of Leia and her decisions and interests, and as a result, they weren't very close. Leia tried her best to have a good relationship with Eric, learning about Star Wars and engaging in other activities with him, even though Leia had no interest in these things. When Leia decided to stay in Point Place, Eric was in dismay, telling Leia she wouldn't be staying and she had to go with him to a Star Wars themed spaced camp. Leia realized that Eric merely wanted her to do whatever he wanted and nothing she was interested in so, along with Donna, she decided she was taking control of her life and stayed in Point Place for the summer.

#### Kitty Forman

Leia seemed to have a good relationship with her grandmother. Kitty always engaged with Leia while she was staying with her for the summer. Only two times did Kitty portray herself as a disciplinary factor in Leia's life, when Leia and Jay got pulled over and when Leia lied to herself and Red and attended a rave with her friends.

#### Red Forman

— Red, encouraging Leid

Leia and her grandfather have a strong relationship. Red treated Leia like she was a prize, mostly because she is his only granddaughter. When Bob visited for Leia's birthday, Red got competitive over Leia, causing him to give Leia her father's old Vista Cruiser. While Red was usually hard on everyone around him, Leia seemed to be his soft spot for most things.

#### Bob Pinciotti

Leia and Bob somewhat have a good relationship. Judging on how she rarely saw him, he was excited when he visited Leia on her birthday. He bought her an expensive karaoke machine, and tried to sing her a song, much to everyone's dismay.

### Non-familial

#### Gwen Runck

Gwen Runck was Leia's best friend. They did everything together, going to the mall when Leia needed to get her first kiss out of the way. However, when Leia started dating Jay, Gwen became concerned for Leia as everyone in Point Place know Jay and his father to be players. When Leia had to choose between Gwen and Jay, she chose to hangout with Jay first, causing her to be late when meeting Gwen at the water tower. This inadvertently hurt Gwen's feelings. Later, Gwen didn't want to talk to Leia, but after she apologized, they made up. When Leia was leaving Point Place, she and Gwen made plans to talk over the phone once Leia returned to Chicago.

#### Jay Kelso

Jay and Leia first began seeing each other shortly in July 1995. While Leia initially believed that Jay wasn’t serious about their relationship, this turned out to not be the case. In truth, Jay really liked Leia, claiming he “didn't want her to be some random hookup.” After going back and forth for a few weeks, Leia kissed him on her birthday and they officially entered a relationship.
However, Leia overheard Jay talking about breaking up with her since he doesn't want a long-distance relationship, Leia grew very upset with Jay. After realizing his mistake, Jay tells Leia he still wants to be friends with her. Leia agreed and told him she would call him when she got home.

#### Ozzie

Ozzie and Leia were close friends in 1995. From the beginning Ozzie took to Leia very well, even giving her a few nicknames. By the middle of the summer, Ozzie very close with Leia, even somewhat confiding in her about his sexuality. On her last day in Point Place, he was visibly upset, but claimed he didn't show his emotions due to other people showing theirs. Later, after he had said goodbye to Leia, he broke down in the Forman's driveway and asked her to come back because he missed her.

#### Nate Runck

In the beginning, Leia and Nate weren't really close as friends. They just went along with the rest of the gang's antics and were just there. At some point in the summer, Leia and Nate did grow a bond, often giving each other relationship advice. Especially when Nate was freaked because Nikki was spending time with her tutor. Leia had told him that he just needed to talk to Nikki so that they were on the same page. Later, on Leia's last day in Point Place, the two had a connection in Nate's kitchen, where the pair almost kissed. Before everyone said their goodbyes to Leia, Nate pulled her aside and said they had something, but was interrupted by Jay. He later said he would miss Leia before he jokingly said "not," indicating he would indeed miss having Leia around.

#### Nikki

While the two haven’t had much interaction, they seem to get along pretty well for the most part. In 1995, Leia met Nikki on her second night in Point Place. The girls later had conversations about relationships, like how Nikki told Leia where and how to touch Jay since Leia was afraid to touch his junk.

## Memorable Quotes

* "Hey Grandma. Hey Grandpa."
* "I'm a pretty big deal in Debate Club. That's not up for debate."
* "Yeah, I'm not popular."
* "I wish I could stay for the summer."
* "No dancing. You're like the guy from *Footloose* - No dancing, you guys."
* "I think we should just say... Woah."

## Behind the scenes

The character was first revealed in an article by *Deadline Hollywood*. On February 3, 2022, it was announced that actress Callie Haverda had been cast for the role. The creators saw "a lot of people" for the role of Leia Forman, until finally Callie Haverda popped up in an audition and they got "chills." Lindsay Turner added, "Callie, naturally, had a lot of those mannerisms of Eric Forman. It was so easy to spot that Callie was the right combo of Eric and Donna."

## Trivia

* Leia's name is a homage to Princess Leia, since Eric is famously obsessed with *Star Wars*.
* Though Leia's middle name is "Anne," Eric still calls her "Leia Tatooine Forman," another homage to *Star Wars*.

## References

1. ↑ In "The Birthday Girl," Leia turns 15.
2. ↑ In "That '90s Pilot," Donna states that her middle name is Anne after Eric says its Tatooine.