Billie Lourd has carried the weight of the Billie Lourd Star Wars legacy family as the daughter of Carrie Fisher and granddaughter of Debbie Reynolds, two legendary Hollywood icons. Since the loss of her mother and grandmother in December 2016, Lourd has dedicated herself to honoring their memory while raising her two children with her husband Austen Rydell.
Billie Lourd’s Hollywood Heritage and Personal Journey
Born in 1992 to talent agent Bryan Lourd and actress Carrie Fisher, Billie Lourd grew up surrounded by the glamour and complexity of Hollywood royalty. Her mother rose to worldwide fame as Princess Leia in Star Wars, while her grandmother, Debbie Reynolds, was an Old Hollywood star celebrated for her work in musicals and as a pop singer. In 2024, Billie revisited her family roots through her leading role in Gia Coppola’s drama The Last Showgirl, where she portrayed Hannah, the conflicted daughter of a veteran showgirl.
Lourd described working on the film as a deeply emotional experience, saying,
“I was so excited to get to be involved in [the movie] because it reminded me so much of my mom and grandma,”
and added,
“My grandma was a showgirl in her own right and my mom was a little bit of the character that I got to play. So it was really cathartic and incredible to get to be in this movie and play this role. It was really cool.”
Away from the camera, Lourd now lives a different life as a mother and wife, sharing her children Kingston and Jackson with her husband Austen Rydell, who is also an actor. Despite the tragic losses she’s endured, she strives to keep her family’s legacy alive, instilling pride and stories from her famous lineage into the lives of her children.
Reflecting on what her children inherit from their lineage, Lourd said,
“I feel so lucky that even though they won’t get to meet my mom, they will get to know a piece of her through [Princess] Leia,”
followed by,
“And I will get to tell them that the little lady in the TV is my Momby, their Grandmomby. Leia has become a family heirloom, and not just for my family.”
The Lasting Influence of Carrie Fisher on Billie’s Life
Billie Lourd’s mother, Carrie Fisher, was treasured for her iconic performance as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, which cemented her place in cinematic history. Fisher passed away at 60 in 2016, when Billie was just 24. The impact of losing her mother remains profound for Lourd, who has described each anniversary of Carrie’s death as an overwhelming emotional storm.
In a 2024 Instagram tribute, Billie reflected openly on the pain, sharing,
“I always dread this day,”
and continued,
“I spend so much time leading up to it thinking about how awful I’m going to feel. And my dread is usually right. I woke up this morning with a dark cloud over me. But when my kids woke up the dark cloud dissipated and made way for bright glowing sunshine.”
This sense of grief, while heavy, also deepened her appreciation for life’s small joys. She expressed it as
a deeper appreciation for all the little moments of life.
Beyond acting, Carrie Fisher was a gifted writer and screenwriter. Her bestseller novel Postcards from the Edge was adapted into a successful film script she penned herself. Fisher’s contributions to the arts were recognized posthumously with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023. Shortly before her passing, she and Debbie Reynolds premiered the documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds at the Cannes Film Festival, showcasing their unique bond.
The Enduring Legacy of Debbie Reynolds in Billie’s Family
Debbie Reynolds, Billie Lourd’s grandmother, was a superstar of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Born in El Paso, Texas in 1932, Reynolds captured audiences’ hearts by starring alongside Gene Kelly in the classic musical Singin’ in the Rain. She also found success as a pop singer with hit songs like Tammy and A Very Special Love. Her long career spanned multiple entertainment spheres, making her a household name.
Tragically, Reynolds died just one day after her daughter Carrie Fisher in December 2016, at age 84. According to her son Todd Fisher, her final words were
“I want to be with Carrie.”
Billie Lourd has openly shared how the double loss affected her, describing it as overwhelmingly painful. On Claire Bidwell Smith’s New Day podcast, she recounted,
“It was brutal. It was really, really brutal, and I still hesitate and stutter because it’s really hard for me,”
and revealed the difficulty she faced expressing her feelings publicly, adding,
“Because everything I say gets turned into some headline that I didn’t mean. There’s this one where I said something, and it was like three months after she died. I didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about or who the fuck I was or what was going on. And I said something like, ‘Well, now that they’re gone, I get to just be Billie.’”
Lourd clarified her statement, explaining,
“I meant what we were talking about earlier. It’s like I got out of the shadow of them, but I didn’t want to get out of this shadow. It sounded like I like wanted them to die, and that is absolutely the opposite of what I wanted. I would do anything to get them back, but it sounded like I was excited to have the ‘Billie Show.’”
Billie Lourd’s Family Life and Parenthood Today
After the passing of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Billie Lourd rekindled her relationship with actor Austen Rydell. The couple became engaged in June 2020 before welcoming their son Kingston in September of the same year. They married on March 12, 2022, and later had a daughter, Jackson, in December 2022. Notably, Lourd filmed the romantic comedy And Mrs. while pregnant with her second child.
The actress has described motherhood with both humor and determination. In an interview with People, she joked,
“If [my kids] ever say they don’t want to do their homework, I’m going to be like, ‘Watch this movie. I was 9,000 years pregnant with you. You better have a good work ethic,’”
and added,
“If that doesn’t give you a good work ethic, I don’t know what will.”
Even though her children never met their famous grandmother and great-grandmother, Lourd ensures the family’s star-studded history remains alive for them. She has spoken about the complex emotions that come with blending joy and grief through parenthood, writing in a 2022 Instagram post about the bittersweet reality of raising children without her mom’s presence.
She expressed,
“Giving birth to my daughter and watching my son meet her have been two of the most magical moments I have ever experienced. But with the magic of life tends to come the reality of grief,”
continuing,
“My mom is not here to meet either of them and isn’t here to experience any of the magic. Sometimes the magical moments can also be the hardest.”
Lourd reflected on the ongoing struggle with loss, concluding,
“That’s the thing about grief, I wish my Momby were here, but she isn’t. So all I can do is hold onto the magic harder, hug my kids a little tighter. Tell them a story about her. Share her favorite things with them. Tell them how much she would have loved them.”
Continuing a Storied Hollywood Tradition
Billie Lourd’s journey is one of navigating the complex legacy of her family’s contributions to film and entertainment, while managing profound personal losses and embracing motherhood. Her unique position as the bearer of the Billie Lourd Star Wars legacy family connects her directly to some of the most iconic figures in Hollywood history.
By sharing her family’s stories, preserving the memory of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and raising her children with these legacies in mind, Lourd continues the lineage of artistic and personal resilience. As she balances the joy and grief that come with such a heritage, her story reflects the ongoing impact of these Hollywood legends for new generations.
