It’s been quite a while since I have written one of these posts. Time just got away from me. I’ll keep doing these posts because they are fun and, hopefully, interesting (if you’re reading them). We just passed the 5 year anniversary of Carrie Fisher’s death so I feel like this is a good topic. How much do you know about Billie Lourd? Carrie Fisher’s daughter.
Billie Catherine Lourd was born in LA in 1992, her father is Bryan Lourd. When you hear Carrie joke about having terrible “gaydar”, Billie’s father is to whom she is referencing. I’m sure you are also aware that Debbie Reynolds was her grandmother, Carrie’s mother. She is an NYU graduate, majoring in religion and psychology. She has one child with fiancé Austen Rydell.
Star Wars and Leia’s Legacy
In 2015 Billie auditioned for the role of Rey in The Force Awakens. Obviously she didn’t get the part but J. J. Abrams wanted her in the movie (I assume because of her mother). So he created the role of Lieutenant Connix specifically for Billie. The Force Awakens is her first role, although the same year she was cast in Scream Queens. Her most recent role was in American Horror Story.
However, it’s not really about all of her roles that’s really made me admire Billie Lourd. Her connection with Star Wars and her mother is deep and special. She jokes that she had three parents when she was going up; a mom, a dad and Princess Leia. Mark Hamill affectionately refers to her as his “Space Niece”.
She fully embraced the role that made her mother famous. In every episode of Scream Queens she wore earmuffs as a nod to her mother. Billie even portrayed Leia in the flashback scene in The Rise of Skywalker. In 2019, 3 years after her mother’s death, TIME magazine wrote an article defining Billie Lourd as the Keeper of Princess Leia. You need to check out that article.
If there is ever anything developed during the sequel timeline, or after, I really hope Connix, and Billie, are part of it. I’d love to see more about that character. I think it would be cool to see that Connix is Force sensitive.
/MTFBWY
