All About Carrie Fisher’s Daughter, Actress Billie Lourd

Carrie Fisher will always be Princess Leia to Star Wars fans, but to her daughter, Billie Lourd, she was more than that: she was a best friend.

Fisher became a mother in 1992, when she welcomed Billie with her second husband, Creative Arts Agency CEO Bryan Lourd. The Bright Lights star was in awe of her daughter, once writing on X, “She’s MUCH more than my kid. Witty & pretty, I aspire 2 deserve her.”

Billie followed in her mom and grandmother Debbie Reynolds’ footsteps when she became an actress, but what she learned from Fisher was far more than just her performing skills.

“She told me to be true, and kind, and confident in yourself,” Billie told Teen Vogue in September 2016. “She once told me, ‘I never sat you down with a credo. It was more about leading by example.’ ”

Fisher died just a few months later on Dec. 27, 2016, from a heart attack, followed just one day later by Reynolds’ death.

Now, Billie works hard to honor her mother’s legacy while also carving out her own path.

“I’ve always kind of lived in their shadows, and now is the first time in my life when I get to own my life and stand on my own,” she said in the August 2017 issue of Town & Country. “I love being my mother’s daughter, and it’s something I always will be, but now I get to be just Billie.”

“It’s a lot of pressure, because she had such an incredible legacy, and now I have to uphold that and make it evolve in my own way,” she added.

Here’s everything to know about Carrie Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd.

Billie was born in 1992

Fisher became a mother when she welcomed Billie with her partner, Bryan Lourd, on July 17, 1992. From a young age, her mom raised her as a feminist “without gender,” which even inspired her gender neutral name.

“She raised me to not think of men and women as different … It’s kind of the reason she named me Billie,” she told Teen Vogue. “It’s not about being a strong woman — it’s about being a strong person.”

Billie had many strong women in her life, from her mom to her grandmother to her godmother, legendary actress Meryl Streep. Once asked by Andy Cohen what the “best part” of having Streep as a godmother was, Billie simply laughed, “I mean, she’s Meryl Streep!”

Billie’s parents split when she was young, and her father went on to marry Bruce Bozzi in October 2016.

She graduated from New York University

After attending high school at Harvard-Westlake in California, Billie enrolled at Wesleyan University in Middleton, Conn., to get the “idealistic liberal arts school” experience.

“I quickly realized it wasn’t for me,” she told Bello in December 2015. “Everyone was doing things I had done as a teenager … I was in New York City the next day.”

Billie switched gears and enrolled in New York University’s The Gallatin School, which allowed her to design her own major, Art & Business As Religion.

“I could’ve stayed for 900 more years. It was so much fun,” she said. “You can’t beat going to school in the city … I worked at HBO for a year and a half. I worked on documentaries because I thought I wanted to do that.”

However, when she graduated in May 2014, she decided to give acting a real shot.

Billie is an actress like her mom

Though her parents didn’t originally encourage her to go into acting, Billie was drawn to it.

“[On set] my mother would pull me aside and be like, ‘It’s weird that you’re so comfortable here. This is the most uncomfortable environment in the world,’ ” she told Town and Country. “‘If you’re comfortable here, you should do this.’ ”

Billie’s first role came as Lieutenant Connix alongside her mom in 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens. She reprised the role for The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker following Fisher’s death, and even stood in as Princess Leia for a flashback in the last film, though filmmakers digitally replaced her face with Fisher’s.

Beyond the Star Wars universe, Billie has starred in Scream Queens, Booksmart, Ticket to Paradise and American Horror Story. In fact, it was her role in the latter that helped her heal from her loss.

“I cannot thank Ryan [Murphy] enough,” she told Entertainment Tonight of the Cult creator in November 2018. “Honestly, it kind of saved my life … When Ryan offered me Cult, it was just a few months after my mom passed, and it honestly helped me process all of my emotions through these characters.”

In September 2024, Billie told PEOPLE how her role in another project, The Last Showgirl, also helped her feel closer to her mom and grandmother.

“A movie about Vegas and mothers and daughters … did I relate to that? 100 percent,” she joked. “I was so excited to get to be involved in it because it reminded me so much of my mom and grandma. My grandma was a showgirl in her own right and my mom was a little bit of the character that I got to play.”

One thing is for sure — acting is in Billie’s genes. “I’d say definitely the comedy is in the genetics,” she told PEOPLE in March 2025. “It’s something you learn through generations.”

Billie got married in March 2022

Billie began dating actor Austen Rydell in 2016 and got engaged in June 2020.

The pair tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in March 2022 — and the Scream Queens star found several ways to honor her mom on the special day.

Billie told Vogue that she chose a Rodarte custom gown for the event because the company’s designers had interviewed her mother in 2014, and she “immediately fell in love” with them.

She added that her dad picked out a pair of René Mancini shoes that reminded him of the shoes her mom used to wear in the ’90s. Meanwhile, Billie’s engagement ring included a stone from her mom’s ring and her “something blue” was a blue fire opal ring that was Fisher’s favorite.

Billie and Rydell share two children

Billie and Rydell share two children: son Kingston Fisher Lourd Rydell and daughter Jackson Joanne Lourd Rydell.

Kingston was born on Sept. 22, 2020, and his middle name is an ode to Billie’s mom’s surname. His little sister arrived on Dec. 12, 2022.

While knowing she won’t be able to introduce her children to Fisher has been painful for Billie, she continues to keep their grandmother’s legacy alive through them.

“My mom is not here to meet either of them and isn’t here to experience any of the magic,” she wrote on Instagram on the anniversary of her death in December 2022.

She continued, “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.”

Star Wars is a huge part of Billie’s life

Billie is a major fan of Star Wars — and her favorite movie is in line with her mom’s top pick.

“I am a Star Wars fuhreak —  that’s F-U-H-R-E-A-K!” she told PEOPLE in May 2024, adding that her favorite is Empire Strikes Back. “I have to follow suit with my mom, and that was her favorite.”

She also admitted that she has more merchandise than fans could imagine, racking up items from a Princess Leia toothbrush to six shirts featuring her mom’s iconic character.

Since her kids were born, Billie has also been bringing them into the Star Wars fold. In fact, on May 4 (a.k.a Star Wars Day) in 2021, she dressed her then-infant son in a Leia onesie and a crocheted hat featuring the princess’ iconic “cinnamon bun” hairdo while he watched one of the films.

Now that her kids are getting a little older, they’re starting to become bona fide fans themselves.

“My son actually understands it now,” Billie told PEOPLE in May 2024. “He loves episode one, and we go and build lightsabers at Disneyland. He wears Star Wars sneakers. He wears Star Wars shirts.”

Billie added that it’s “so amazing” to get to see the films through his eyes.

“It’s the ultimate, ultimate gift. I keep saying ‘gift,’ but it really is such a gift to have this. It’s like the ultimate home movie,” she said. “I’m so lucky that I get to have these films to rewatch and to show my son, because even though he doesn’t get to meet her, he gets to know a little piece of her.”

Billie said she misses her mom every day

Billie often posts about her grieving process on social media. While celebrating Mother’s Day with her kids in May 2025, Billie admitted that she still struggles with the loss of her own mom.

She went on to share a sweet memory with Fisher, describing how when she was little, her mom would sniff her head.

“I would always wriggle away from her and laugh,” she wrote. “But now I regret any wriggling I ever did because now I do the same to my kids.”

Despite the many stages of grief, Billie has also said she feels very grateful. “Grief has infused my life with a sense of appreciation I had never had before. It makes me soak up every moment of joy as if it were my last,” she wrote in December 2023.

“She is with me every day – she infuses my joyful moments with even more joy,” Billie said of her mom. “As I tell my son, she lives in the stars – and she damn sure makes my life sparkle.”

Billie accepted her mom’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 2023

In May 2023, Billie accepted a star on her mom’s behalf — while donning a dress with Princess Leia on it — at the Hollywood Walk of Fame with her husband by her side.

“I can’t wait to bring my kids here when they’re old enough to understand how cool it is,” she said at the event. “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 Leia.”

“I will get to tell them that the little lady in the TV is my Momby, their Grandmomby,” she added. “Leia has become a family heirloom, and not just for my family.”