Billie Lourd Says ‘The Last Showgirl’ Was ‘Cathartic’ After Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds’ Deaths
Billie Lourd has shared how working on Gia Coppola’s new movie, The Last Showgirl, made her feel closer to her late mother Carrie Fisher and grandmother Debbie Reynolds.
Taking to the stage alongside costars Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis at The Last Showgirl’s premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival on Friday, September 7, Lourd revealed just how much the experience meant to her.
“I was just sobbing backstage so excuse me in advance,” an emotional Lourd, 32, said, as per Entertainment Weekly. "This movie was deeply meaningful to me.”
Lourd credited Coppola with providing the opportunity for such a positive experience.
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“When I met with Gia, I spoke about my mom and grandma's relationship. Getting to play this character was extremely cathartic for me because it felt like [Anderson's character] Shelley was my grandma and I got to be my mom,” Lourd said.
She added: “I got to understand my mom on a deeper level than I ever had and it was a beautiful experience.”
The Last Showgirl stars Anderson as Las Vegas entertainer Shelley, who must reconcile with her new reality after her show unexpectedly closes after 30 years.
Lourd portrays Shelley’s daughter, Hannah. Meanwhile, Curtis plays Shelley’s former colleague, showgirl-turned-waitress, Annette.
Fisher was most well known for her iconic role as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars films while Reynolds shot to fame in Hollywood’s golden age, performing in classics such as Singin’ In The Rain (1952) and How the West Was Won (1962).
Fisher died in December 2016 at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack. One day later, her mother, Reynolds, died of a stroke.
Over the years, Lourd has spoken candidly about her feelings over losing her mother and grandmother.
In December 2021, the actress admitted in a post shared via Instagram that dealing with grief is “never simple”.
“I’m in a different stage of grief in each moment of every day,” she wrote via Instagram. “My grief is a multi-course meal with many complicated ingredients. An amuse bouche of bargaining followed by an anger appetizer with a side of depression, acceptance for the entree and of course a little denial for dessert.”
She continued: “And that’s how grief should be – all things all at once – actually there is no ‘should’ in grief – grief just is whatever it is for you and that is how it ‘should be.’”
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On the seventh anniversary of her mother’s passing, Lourd took to Instagram again to share further insight into how she was processing the loss.
“It has been 7 years since my mom died (but who’s counting?? Me I guess?),” Lourd wrote in December, 2023. “Every anniversary brings a different iteration of my grief. Some infuse me with rage, some make me cry all day long, some make me feel dissociated and empty, some make me feel nothing, some make me feel guilty for feeling nothing, and some make me feel all of those things all at once.”
