Why Billie Lourd Says HerLast ShowgirlRole ‘Reminded Me So Much of My Mom and Grandma’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Billie Lourde next to a photo of her mom Carrie Fisher and grandmother Debbie Reynolds.Photo:Robin Marchant/Getty, Ethan Miller/GettyFilmingThe Last Showgirlwas more than just a job forBillie Lourd.While speaking with PEOPLE exclusively at theToronto International Film Festival(TIFF) on Friday, Sept. 6, theBooksmartstar, 32, reflected on what playing her character inGia Coppola’s film has meant to her.“That’s so weird, a movie about Vegas and mothers and daughters… did I relate to that? 100 percent,” the actress jokes.Billie’s motherCarrie Fisher died in December 2016at the age of 60 and her grandmotherDebbie Reynolds dieda day after her daughter at the age of 84.Lourd says that she “fell in love” with Coppola’s script upon first reading it because she related it to her family history.Billie Lourd attends the premiere of “The Last Showgirl” during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.Robin Marchant/Getty"I was so excited to get to be involved in it because it reminded me so much of my mom and grandma," she says of Fisher and Reynolds. “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,” she adds.Lourd stars alongside Pamela Anderson’s Shelley in the film. Per TIFF’sofficial synopsisofThe Last Showgirl, Shelley “tries to reconnect with a daughter she hardly knows” (Lourd), after learning that her job in the last traditional show on the Vegas strip is ending.Actress Carrie Fisher (L) and her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds in 2007.Ethan Miller/GettyThe reconciliation attempt “proves just as difficult as losing the only job she has ever had,” the synopsis says.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds pose during TNT’s 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2015.Kevin Mazur/WireImageReynolds signed a historic million-dollar contract to perform a holiday season residency at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 1962, per theNeon Museum in Las Vegas. Fisher and her brother, Todd also appeared in the show with their mom.

Billie Lourde next to a photo of her mom Carrie Fisher and grandmother Debbie Reynolds.Photo:Robin Marchant/Getty, Ethan Miller/Getty

Robin Marchant/Getty, Ethan Miller/Getty

FilmingThe Last Showgirlwas more than just a job forBillie Lourd.While speaking with PEOPLE exclusively at theToronto International Film Festival(TIFF) on Friday, Sept. 6, theBooksmartstar, 32, reflected on what playing her character inGia Coppola’s film has meant to her.“That’s so weird, a movie about Vegas and mothers and daughters… did I relate to that? 100 percent,” the actress jokes.Billie’s motherCarrie Fisher died in December 2016at the age of 60 and her grandmotherDebbie Reynolds dieda day after her daughter at the age of 84.Lourd says that she “fell in love” with Coppola’s script upon first reading it because she related it to her family history.Billie Lourd attends the premiere of “The Last Showgirl” during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.Robin Marchant/Getty"I was so excited to get to be involved in it because it reminded me so much of my mom and grandma,” she says of Fisher and Reynolds. “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,” she adds.Lourd stars alongside Pamela Anderson’s Shelley in the film. Per TIFF’sofficial synopsisofThe Last Showgirl, Shelley “tries to reconnect with a daughter she hardly knows” (Lourd), after learning that her job in the last traditional show on the Vegas strip is ending.Actress Carrie Fisher (L) and her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds in 2007.Ethan Miller/GettyThe reconciliation attempt “proves just as difficult as losing the only job she has ever had,” the synopsis says.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds pose during TNT’s 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2015.Kevin Mazur/WireImageReynolds signed a historic million-dollar contract to perform a holiday season residency at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 1962, per theNeon Museum in Las Vegas. Fisher and her brother, Todd also appeared in the show with their mom.

FilmingThe Last Showgirlwas more than just a job forBillie Lourd.

While speaking with PEOPLE exclusively at theToronto International Film Festival(TIFF) on Friday, Sept. 6, theBooksmartstar, 32, reflected on what playing her character inGia Coppola’s film has meant to her.

“That’s so weird, a movie about Vegas and mothers and daughters… did I relate to that? 100 percent,” the actress jokes.

Billie’s motherCarrie Fisher died in December 2016at the age of 60 and her grandmotherDebbie Reynolds dieda day after her daughter at the age of 84.

Lourd says that she “fell in love” with Coppola’s script upon first reading it because she related it to her family history.

Billie Lourd attends the premiere of “The Last Showgirl” during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.Robin Marchant/Getty

Robin Marchant/Getty

“I was so excited to get to be involved in it because it reminded me so much of my mom and grandma,” she says of Fisher and Reynolds. “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,” she adds.

Lourd stars alongside Pamela Anderson’s Shelley in the film. Per TIFF’sofficial synopsisofThe Last Showgirl, Shelley “tries to reconnect with a daughter she hardly knows” (Lourd), after learning that her job in the last traditional show on the Vegas strip is ending.

Actress Carrie Fisher (L) and her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds in 2007.Ethan Miller/Getty

Ethan Miller/Getty

The reconciliation attempt “proves just as difficult as losing the only job she has ever had,” the synopsis says.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds pose during TNT’s 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2015.Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Reynolds signed a historic million-dollar contract to perform a holiday season residency at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 1962, per theNeon Museum in Las Vegas. Fisher and her brother, Todd also appeared in the show with their mom.

source: people.com