Billie Lourd has opened up about life after the death of her mother Carrie Fisher and grandmother Debbie Reynolds in a new interview with ‘Town & Country’.
The Scream Queens star talked about of life after losing her mom and grandma last December. She opened up about her unusual upbringing and making her own path in Hollywood.
Coping with death
Now that some time has passed, Billie Lourd has given her first interview since the deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.
Talking to her ‘American Horror Story: Cult‘ costar and longtime family friend Sarah Paulson, Billie spoke about what it was like to lose her mom and grandma in the span of less than week last December.
Billie opened up about the last time she saw Carrie. The actress recalled how she was shooting an episode of ‘Scream Queens‘ and was having a hard time and being too severe on herself.
And then Carrie offered some guidance,
“She told me, ‘Come over right now. I want to watch this with you.’ And she made me sit down and watch it, and she forced me to see the good parts,” she said.
“She was incredible like that. But she was really hard on me, saying, ‘Shut up, you’re great in this. Have faith in yourself. Be more confident.'”
Humor runs in the family
The dual deaths in her family hit Billie hard—but humor got her through it.
“If life’s not funny, then it’s just true—and that would be unacceptable,” she says, quoting her mom.
“Even when she died, that was what got me through that whole thing. When Debbie died the next day, I could just picture her saying, ‘Well, she’s upstaging me once again, of course—she had to.'”
Carrie taught Billie a lot, through her failures and her success. Unlike her mom, she’s not sure being so public is for her.
“It’s good to a certain extent. It’s good to be authentic, to help other people, but if it’s not helping other people, then don’t do it. There were a couple incidents I wish she could have kept to herself,” Billie says.
“But, you know, that was the beauty of her.”
Finding her call
During the interview, Billie recalled how neither her mom nor her grandmother wanted her to become an actress. The pair was pretty aware of the ups and downs of being famous.
“They were like, ‘This is going to be a really s–tty lifestyle, and everyone’s going to be scrutinizing you deeply and constantly.’ My mom wrote five books and a one-woman show; they didn’t want more things for people to be able to Google about me,” she says.
But either way, Carrie somehow helped her getting in the acting path. Billie recalled how she made it to her first movie credit in 2015 with ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘.
“My mom actually pointed me toward [acting]…J.J. Abrams called and said they couldn’t find anybody for this one part and would I come in and read for it,” she said.
While Billie didn’t get the part, she got an extra part found something even more important about herself.
“The thing is, I was bizarrely comfortable on set. My mother would pull me aside and be like, ‘It’s weird that you’re so comfortable here,” Billie tells Town & Country.
“This is the most uncomfortable environment in the world. If you’re comfortable here, you should do this.'”
Making her own path
Being the daughter and granddaughter of legendary stars, Billie is well aware of the pressure of keeping up with the legacy. However, she wants to establish her own identity apart from the famous lineage.
“It’s a lot of pressure, because [her mother Carrie Fisher] had such an incredible legacy, and now I have to uphold that and make it evolve in my own way,” Lourd said.
Now that Billie is on her own, it’ll be exciting to see where her new adventures take her. Her mother and grandmother will never be forgotten, but it seems Billie won’t have any trouble at all standing out.
“I’ve always kind of lived in their shadows, and now is the first time in my life when I get to own my life and stand on my own,” she said. “I love being my mother’s daughter, and it’s something I always will be, but now I get to be just Billie.”
Since her mother and grandmother’s deaths, Billie has honored the pair with throwback photos. Princess Leia–inspired red carpet looks and heartfelt speeches and statements.
Most recently, in July, when Carrie was honored with the prestigious Disney Legends Award, Billie penned a sweet statement in honor of her mom.
“As far back as I can remember, my mom and I have been Disney fanatics,” it read.
“She secretly always wanted to be a Disney princess, so getting to be a Disney princess and a Disney legend would have been her ultimate dream.”
The force is definitely with Billie.
Source: Page Six