Carrie Fisher’s daughter has her first acting role. The Force will be strong with this one, indeed.
As reported by both the Daily UK and Mir ror websites, Fisher’s daughter, 21-year-old Billie Lourd, will be cast as a younger version of Princess Leia in the upcoming Star Wars VII movie. Billie Lourd is the daughter of both Fisher and Bryan Lourd, a talent agent who has served as Partner, Managing Director and Co-Chairman of Creative Artists Agency. J.J. Abrams decided on the young Lourd because of the visual similarities of Lourd to the 57-year-old Fisher. “‘She will even have her hair tied up in Princess Leia-style buns. She’s an aspiring actress and singer so she grabbed the opportunity with both hands,’ Abrams said.
Fisher, who lost 40 pounds to reprise her iconic role of Princess Leia, approved of the casting choice, keeping Fisher’s most famous role within the Fisher family. Reports have Lourd flying into the UK earlier this month to join Fisher. The cast and crew is currently filming in both Abu Dhabi, London and in Pinewood Studios, according to aceshowbiz.com website.
Lourd joins new cast members John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o, and Gwendoline Christie. They are joined by the original members Fisher, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.
Abrams has a penchant for casting family members in his films. He has cast his father Gerald, and his father-in-law, James H. McGrath, Jr., while directing Star Trek. Both have been cast in Star Wars VII, as well.
Rumor and speculation are rampant concerning this film. Security for the film’s sets are not allowing for much information to be released to the general public. Even Lourd’s participation was kept under wraps until recently. One known fact from the filming of this installment of Star Wars is that Harrison Ford is still recovering from a prop spacecraft door falling on his foot, breaking it. Though he will be sidelined, production will continue unabated. This has also led to speculation that Tom Cruise will have a cameo appearance in this installment. Of course, this has been neither confirmed or denied.
“Star Wars Episode VII” is scheduled for worldwide release in December 18,2015. Reportedly, both Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy wanted to push the release date to May 4, 2016. Disney executive Bob Iger, however, decided to stay with the original release date.
