What You Never Knew About Billie Lourd
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You can't talk about actor Billie Lourd and not mention her extremely famous family. Born to movie star mother Carrie Fisher and talent agent father Bryan Lourd, it seems as though she was always destined to end up in show business. Even her grandparents were famous actors — the late Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. In fact, "she gets really upset when I get called Carrie Fisher's daughter," Lourd joked on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." "She wants people to call me Debbie Reynolds' granddaughter."
While many fans link Lourd with her famous relatives, she's surely come to stand on her own throughout the years — from her debut role in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," to acting on television in "Scream Queens" and "American Horror Story," to finding her footing in the film "Booksmart" (where her character was actually based on Lourd herself). "She's what I would be if no one was watching," Lourd even admitted on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
We may feel like we know a whole lot about her famous family, but there are still a lot of things you might not know about Lourd herself. Read on for a few of them.
Meryl Streep is Billie Lourd's godmother
Billie Lourd grew up in a pretty famous family, so it would only make sense that her godmother is a massive movie star, too — Meryl Streep.
Way before Lourd was ever born, her mother Carrie Fisher met Streep on the set of "Postcards From the Edge." Fisher wrote the film, and Streep was cast in the starring role. From there, the working relationship quickly turned into a lifelong friendship. When Fisher gave birth to her only daughter, she gave Streep the ultimate honor of becoming her godmother.
As Lourd slowly made her way into show business, Streep was always there to bestow her best wisdom upon her. (After all, who wouldn't want acting advice from the most admired Academy Award winner?) Something Streep continually told the aspiring actor was to "enjoy yourself," Lourd explained to Elle. "And take a step back and try to not be stressed every day," which is great advice that Lourd's been able to take off-screen as well.
Hopefully, we'll be able to see them starring together in something soon! "I'd love to work with Meryl," Lourd told Vulture.
Billie Lourd is an NYU alumna
Crazy as it may sound, Billie Lourd never thought she'd ever end up as an actor. In fact, she went to college to study something completely different. Heck, she even created her very own major once she ended up at New York University: "Art and Business as Religion," she explained during an interview with Town & Country Magazine.
Growing up, Lourd was never exposed to any kind of religion (ironic, considering her name is Lourd). Instead, she spent her childhood reading and learning about all sorts of beliefs, and approaching her education from a spiritual perspective seemed to be important to her.
Though she officially became an NYU alumna in 2014, Lourd spent her first semester as a freshman at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. However, the small-town vibe didn't seem to be the right fit for this city girl. "I was driving to New York every weekend anyway, so I ended up transferring," Lourd admitted.
Billie Lourd's famous family encouraged her not to act
With every single one of her family members in show business, it seemed obvious that Billie Lourd was bound to end up on the big screen, too. Yet, surprisingly, her family didn't want her to have anything to do with acting. "My whole life, they said, 'Do not act,'" she told Interview Magazine. In fact, she once secretly took acting lessons at a performing arts camp.
Once Lourd graduated from college, she decided to give the acting thing a go. When she told her family, they were less than ecstatic about her decision to go against their advice. Even her famous grandmother Debbie Reynolds sat her down and made the aspiring actor read her journal from some of her early acting days. When Lourd was finished giving them a look, "she looked at me so earnestly with her, like, hands crossed in her lap," Lourd explained on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." "And [she] was like, 'Are you sure you still want to be an actress, dear?'" The answer was obviously yes.
The actress eventually wants to release an album
Sure, Billie Lourd is a well-known movie star now, but singing happens to be another one of her passions. Over the years, we have gotten a few sneak peeks of Lourd's singing voice on her Instagram page, but she's more serious about it than just a few social media posts. In fact, she hopes to be able to release her own album and perform professionally. At least, "at some point," she said during an interview with Town & Country Magazine, admitting that she has to build up the confidence first. Even so, the actor seems to have some sort of deadline in mind. "My goal is to do it before I'm 30," she admitted — which is coming up very quickly!
While we all wait for her to drop a solo album, Lourd has been keeping extremely busy with other things. Her baby, of course, takes up a lot of her time, and she's even getting her own television show very soon thanks to creator Ryan Murphy (who definitely seems to be her number-one fan). The music will have to wait, because "for now, I'm really digging this acting thing," Lourd said on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
Billie Lourd originally auditioned to play Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Believe it or not, the very first film Billie Lourd ever acted in was the highly anticipated return of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in 2015. In it, she plays Lieutenant Connix, but she originally had plans to play a much different character that could have completely changed the trajectory of her acting career — leading lady Rey. In fact, Lourd got a personal call from director J.J. Abrams himself to come in and read for it.
In the end, the role ultimately went to actor Daisy Ridley, but Abrams definitely hadn't forgotten about Lourd. "He ended up giving me this tiny role with a couple of lines," she explained on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." "And I was super excited, didn't know what was going to happen, and ended up going and fell in love with it." It was then that her costar-slash-mother Carrie Fisher (who plays Princess Leia) began to notice the passion that her daughter had for acting and finally encouraged her to follow in her footsteps.
She had a top-secret pregnancy
In September 2020, Billie Lourd shocked the world when she announced on Instagram that she had given birth to a baby boy. No one had previously had any indication that the actor was even pregnant, and that was exactly how she and her fiancé Austen Rydell intended it to be. "Everyone was so surprised when we posted that little picture of his feet," she said during an interview with Radio Andy. "And it got to just be something I shared with the people I love the most." It also helped that she could easily hide her bump while being stuck at home during lockdown!
When it comes to giving her son Kingston a sibling, Lourd is all about it. In fact, she's had her entire family plan figured out for quite some time. "Like, literally, when I was 3, I would tell you that I want, like, four kids," she explained. "I want, like, one at 28, which is so weird because I had Kingston at 28." With that being said, we shouldn't be shocked again when Lourd eventually announces she's welcomed another bundle of joy into the world.
Billie Lourd's favorite movie of all time is a comedy
Out of all the movies in the world, there's something about "I Love You, Man" that has Billie Lourd re-watching it again and again. "I'm obsessed with that movie, and Paul Rudd is everything to me," the actor admitted to W Magazine. "I can always go to sleep to that movie because it is the most uplifting, hilarious movie in the world." Whenever she's going through a tough time in her life, Lourd told Elle that she always has the movie on repeat.
Though we've seen Lourd in more serious roles over the years, we are all for seeing her star in a comedy — especially alongside Paul Rudd. At this point in her career, anything's possible. For now, Deadline has reported that she's been busy booking a role in the upcoming film "Ticket to Paradise" with another big actor by the name of George Clooney. No big deal!
There's a special reason why Billie Lourd wears earmuffs in Scream Queens
Any fan of "Scream Queens" knows why Chanel #3 is always wearing earmuffs: Her ex-boyfriend was so obsessed with her ears that he once threatened to cut them off if he ever saw them. However, actor Billie Lourd had a much different reason for turning to this specific accessory when it came to her character. "It was kind of just an aesthetic choice in the beginning," the actor explained on the "Today" show. It quickly turned into something much more meaningful.
In the very first episode of the series, Lourd's character actually only wears the earmuffs in certain scenes. But everybody seemed to love each scene in which she did. "People became so obsessed with them, and I got so deeply attached to them in a weird way that it became part of my character," she explained on "Live with Kelly and Ryan." One of the biggest reasons for this was that people began drawing comparisons between Lourd's earmuffs and Princess Leia's iconic side buns — a character who has always been portrayed by her mother Carrie Fisher.
Shortly after "Scream Queens" premiered on our small screens, Lourd's mother unexpectedly passed away. Instantly, the accessory officially transformed into a way to pay tribute to her mother.
Billie Lourd helped Carrie Fisher win a Grammy
Actor Carrie Fisher wrote quite a few tell-all books over the course of her life. For one of these projects, she decided to include her daughter Billie Lourd in the audiobook. In the 2016 novel titled "The Princess Diarist," fans can listen as the two actors read everything from Fisher's real-life journal entries as a teenager to snippets she wrote later on in her life. In the recording, "I read the journals," Lourd said during an interview with Radio Andy. Even more exciting, "We actually won a Grammy for it!" she added.
In 2017, Carrie Fisher was awarded the Grammy for best spoken word album of the year. Unfortunately, she was unable to accept the honor. The announcement came one year after her unexpected death. Today, the trophy sits on a shelf in Lourd's father's office as a reminder of one of the last projects his wife and daughter got the chance to work on together. "It's one of the greatest things I've ever gotten to do," Lourd said.
Carrie Fisher almost named her daughter something completely different
Many of the famous people in Billie Lourd's family have written books about their lives — which have always included the young actor. It seems as though no one can avoid talking about how this actor's unique name came to be, either.
In 1999, Lourd's grandfather (actor Eddie Fisher) wrote his second autobiographical book called "Been There, Done That." In it, he gushes all about his beautiful granddaughter and also claims that Lourd was actually named after his own mother — Catherine. "Carrie wanted her to bear my mother's name," he writes. "But everyone calls her Billie."
Her mother Carrie Fisher also wrote a novel called "Delusions of Grandma" while she was pregnant with Lourd. In it, she writes journal entries to her unborn daughter, who she doesn't refer to as Billie. "I was supposed to be named Esme, which thank God I wasn't," Lourd later explained on Radio Andy. "Sorry to anybody who's named Esme. It's a beautiful name, but I prefer Billie."
She dyed her hair for the first time for American Horror Story
Hollywood actors seem to be constantly changing their hair color, so when Billie Lourd was asked to go gray to play Winter Anderson in "American Horror Story," it didn't seem like it would be a big deal. Yet, it was a major moment for this actor. "I've never dyed my hair," she revealed to Vulture. To make her hair look as realistic as possible, creator Ryan Murphy didn't want Lourd wearing a wig, either. (She even asked if she could.)
Prior to the premiere in 2017, Lourd debuted her silvery strands on Instagram and made a total statement. But that was only the beginning for her new look. From the very first day Lourd showed up on set, she found herself having to constantly maintain her newly-colored mane. "I had to retouch it up, like, every two weeks," she admitted.
Since wrapping up the show, Lourd has gone back to her roots — pun intended.
The actress can't cook
Billie Lourd can act. She can sing. She can practically do anything — except cook. "Cooking is a dangerous thing for me," she admitted on "The Late Late Show with James Corden." "I'm pretty inept in the kitchen." However, don't tell anyone in her family this dirty little secret.
Each Thanksgiving, Lourd always volunteers to make some of the side dishes during their family get-together. Yet, instead of actually cooking it herself, she goes out to a restaurant, purchases her favorite dishes, and puts them in her own bowls prior to her family members' arrival. Passing off store-bought food as her own wasn't her original idea, either. "It's kind of become, like, a family tradition vibe," Lourd said. "My grandma [actor Debbie Reynolds] used to do it." Unfortunately, when the family found food wrappers from Pollo Loco the year Reynolds "made" the holiday meal, grandma was busted. Lourd, however, has been able to keep her secret successfully hidden — at least until her family reads this article, that is. Oops!
She reprised her Star Wars role after her mother's death
Fans couldn't have been more excited to see "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" in 2019. However, when it finally came time to film, the star of the show had unpredictably passed away. Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, had always been an integral piece of the famous plot. To have the show go on without her didn't make any sense — and that's when director J.J. Abrams decided to turn to unused footage he had shot with her in the previous films.
As exciting as it was, Abrams admitted to Vanity Fair that he initially wrote Billie Lourd's character out of all her mother's scenes for fear of it being too emotional for her. However, Lourd insisted on appearing in those scenes. "I knew it would be one of the most painful, difficult things I would ever do," Lourd later wrote in an essay for Time. "But I said yes for her — for my mom." She had a special way to pay tribute to her, too. In addition to reprising the role of Lieutenant Connix, Lourd appears as a young Princess Leia in the film. Like mother, like daughter.
Billie Lourd is a big fan of Beyoncé
Ever since Billie Lourd was a baby, she's been introduced to all sorts of famous people (which makes sense — everybody in her family is in show business, after all.) Yet, there's one star she would love to get the opportunity to meet someday: Beyoncé. Though she's seen her in person before, the right time to introduce herself just hasn't come up quite yet. "I saw her coming out of the bathroom at Coachella and had a fan girl moment and ran away," Lourd admitted during an interview with Elle – and can we really blame her for getting nervous around the Queen Bey?
Eventually, Lourd hopes to one day have the opportunity to interact with the musician — and honestly, who wouldn't? "She is just queen and cannot be repeated," the actor said, and we definitely think these two are destined to meet. A Lourd with the Queen is something we definitely have to see!