BIllie Lourd Auditioned For Rey In ‘Star Wars’

Billie Lourd, the daughter of Star Wars icon Carrie Fisher, joined the Star Wars universe as Lieutenant Connix in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, acting alongside her mother as General Leia within the Resistance. However, it turns out the Lourd first tried out for a much larger role in the Star Wars saga.

Lourd was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and revealed that she first got a call The Force Awakens (and now Episode IX) director JJ Abrams when he was still looking for an actress to play the lead role, Rey.

“J.J. Abrams called me to come in for Star Wars because he couldn’t find someone for the lead,” Lourd said. “He ended up finding Daisy Ridley, who’s an incredible actress—so talented! But I went in and he ended up giving me this tiny role with a couple lines. I was super excited.”

Lourd is still grieving over the loss of her mother and grandmother, Debbie Reynolds, who both died in December 2016, but is grateful for getting to work with Fisher on The Force Awakens.

“It was incredible. I’m a big believer in things happening for a reason, and I think I ended up in that movie for a reason,” she said. “It was really incredible for us to get to have that experience together.”

Lourd recalls that Fisher was at first against the idea of her daughter going into show business, but she had a change of heart after seeing how comfortable Lourd was on set.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen and ended up going and fell in love with it,” Lourd said. “I was weirdly singing Jersey Boys on set and really comfortable. I came home and my mom said, ‘This is really weird that you’re comfortable here; this is one of the most uncomfortable environments in the world. If you’re comfortable here, you should do this…You should act.’”

Lourd reprised her role as Lieutenant Connix, alongside Fisher as General Leia, in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, opening Dec. 15, 2017.