The relationship actress Billie Lourd had with her mother was certainly an enviable one. We would count ourselves lucky to have shared what Lourd shared with the late Carried Fisher. Both, of course, appeared in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, with Fisher appearing in The Rise of Skywalker posthumously through old, unused footage. The daughter of our Princess Leia opens up about the experience of working without Fisher in a new Star Wars documentary.

J.J. Abrams first introduced us to Lourd’s character, Lt. Connix, in The Force Awakens. She’s since appeared in the following two films, her Star Wars career culminating with The Rise of Skywalker. Her mother’s death in 2016, however, required her to act in the latter without her mother. Despite her significant loss, Lourd speaks jokingly (while still reverently) about Fisher in the new Star Wars documentary to accompany the film’s Digital and Blu-ray releases.

Star Wars Documentary
Creating Leia in The Rise of Skywalker. (Image: lucasfilm Ltd.)

Billie Lourd Talks Carrie Fisher in new Star Wars Documentary

It’s kind of a gift from her or her forcing us to make a decision to make her the star of the movie. Probably both!”

~Billie Lourd, discussing her mother Carrie Fisher.

As we know, Lourd has done more than simply honor her mother in interviews. In fact, she literally took on her own mother’s role to complete certain aspects of the film. The new Star Wars documentary reminds us that Lourd portrayed Leia for physical filming of a flashback scene between Luke Skywalker and his sister. The scene was a poignant and powerful throwback to the Star Wars original trilogy and its main characters. Still, doing so wasn’t easy. The production was a constant reminder of the loss of her mother.

Star Wars Documentary; Rise of Skywalker
Billie Lourd on the set of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker with director J.J. Abrams.
(Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.)

Being back has been incredible, painful, surreal…. All of the adjectives that you can come up with probably I felt. I’m so happy, and she would be happy that it’s her movie, too.”

You can see the new Star Wars documentary in its entirety when The Rise of Skywalker arrives on Digital next Tuesday, March 17th.

Source: abc15.com