Billie Lourd Recalls Having Light Saber Fights With Mom Carrie Fisher
With the death of Carrie Fisher, Billie Lourd gives Star Wars fans a glimpse of how she reacted when she first watched her mother as Princess Leia. In a recent interview with People magazine, the Scream Queens actress revealed that she was terrified the first time her mother let her watch Star Wars.
“My mom made me watch Star Wars for the first time when I was about 7-years-old. When I was younger, I hated action movies and pretty much anything loud. So when she put it on I covered my ears and ran out of the room.”
The opening song of the film might have startled the young Billie. Nonetheless, her aversion did not last long because she eventually tried to watch the film again. She found herself loving the franchise and even recalled having iconic “battles” with Carrie.
” [A year later] I was completely enthralled and didn’t stop asking her questions the entire time. For the next year or two, I made her watch it at least once a week — and on special occasions I would make her get in a light saber fight with me. Let’s just say the more trained Jedi usually won.”
Billie then went on to follow Carrie’s footsteps. She not only embarked on acting but also gave life to Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The young actress similarly revealed that her Scream Queens look as Chanel No. 3 have always been homage to Carrie’s iconic character. In the FOX horror-comedy show, Chanel No. 3 always wears a pair of earmuffs to hide her ears from an obsessed ex-boyfriend who wanted to cut them off.
She said that the Scream Queens crew tried to give the earmuffs to her co-stars Emma Roberts and Abigail Breslin but they refused to wear them. When Billie saw them during the fitting, she admitted that she immediately became drawn to the earmuffs because of “genetics.”
Carrie’s death came as a shock for her family who described her to be in good health. On December 23, she went into cardiac arrest while on a transatlantic flight from London to Los Angeles. Several days later, she died in the hospital at the age of 60.
It was more heartbreaking for the family because a day after Carrie’s death, Debbie Reynolds also suffered a stroke and died. Speaking to Daily News, Todd Fisher said that they’re planning to have a joint funeral for Carrie and Debbie.
He said that the family would also respect Billie’s wishes. “We want her to have whatever she wants. Carrie wanted that. There is a trust set up. But we’re all pretty well off. This was her mother,” he said.
Todd added that they’re in awe of how her niece is handling the deaths of her mother and grandmother.
“We’re very proud of her. She’s handling this with amazing strength. Obviously, we are all heartbroken. Everybody is doing their best to pull together, but it’s just a shock.”
In another interview with ABC’s 20/20 via NBC News, Todd described that Debbie was at peace before she died and that “she just left to be with Carrie.”
“She then said that she really wanted to be with Carrie, in those precise words, and within 15 minutes from that conversation, she faded out, and within 30 minutes, she technically was gone.”
Although Debbie made explicit plans about her funeral because of her age, Carrie didn’t. As per Todd, after the private funeral, her mother and sister’s final resting place will be at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills. There is no date yet for the funeral.
[Featured Image by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
