Billie Catherine Lourd (born July 17, 1992) is an American actress. She is known for starring as Chanel#3 in the Fox horror comedy series Scream Queens (2015–2016) and for her roles in the FX horror anthology series American Horror Story (2017–present). She also appears as Lieutenant Connix in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015–2019). Lourd is the only child of actress Carrie Fisher.
Early life
Lourd was born July 17, 1992, in Los Angeles, California, the only child of actress Carrie Fisher and talent agent Bryan Lourd. Lourd is also the only grandchild of actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher, and the niece of Todd Fisher, Joely Fisher, and Tricia Leigh Fisher, all of whom have worked in show business. She has a sister, Ava, from her father’s marriage to Bruce Bozzi, whom her father legally adopted. From her mother’s side, she is of Russian-Jewish and Scots-Irish/English descent. Her godmother is actress Meryl Streep. Writer Bruce Wagner is Lourd’s godfather. Eddie Fisher stated in his autobiography (Been There Done That) that his granddaughter’s name is Catherine Fisher Lourd and her nickname is “Billy”.
In 2008 Lourd was a debutante at Le Bal des débutantes at the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris. She was dressed by Chanel for the occasion.
Lourd attended high school at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. She graduated with a self-designed degree in “Art and Business as Religion” from New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study, in 2014.
Career
Lourd played the role of Lieutenant Connix in the 2015 Star Wars sequel film The Force Awakens. On The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2017, she said that she auditioned for the lead role of Rey, which ultimately went to Daisy Ridley. Lourd also appeared in the second installment, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and the third, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Lourd also played her mother’s character for a brief flashback in the film in which her face was digitally replaced by Fisher’s likeness, using imagery from Return of the Jedi.
In February 2015, Lourd was cast in the Fox horror-comedy series Scream Queens. Lourd’s character, a rich and disaffected sorority girl known as Chanel#3, wears earmuffs as an homage to Fisher’s iconic “cinnamon buns” hairstyle from the original Star Wars film. In December 2015, Lourd spoke about her initial meeting with Scream Queens creator Ryan Murphy:
I thought he wanted me to audition, and so I was just very relaxed and casual about the news. I didn’t think he wanted to hire me, I knew that’s not how things worked. The next day, they told me, you know that offer you didn’t sound too excited about? It’s an offer, not an audition. I flipped out. I didn’t know how he was doing this! The next week I was in New Orleans.
In December 2015, Lourd had joined the cast of the American biographical crime-drama film Billionaire Boys Club, in the role of Rosanna, love interest of Kyle Biltmore. The film was released on July 17, 2018. Its release was put off due to claims of sexual harassment committed by actor Kevin Spacey, who stars in the film. In 2016, Lourd returned to Scream Queens for its second season. She joined the cast of American Horror Story in the role of Winter Anderson for the series’ seventh season. She also portrayed Linda Kasabian, a former member of the Manson Family cult. She returned to American Horror Story for its eighth season, Apocalypse, playing Mallory, a powerful witch.
In 2019, Lourd played Gigi in Booksmart, a high school comedy film directed by Olivia Wilde. Lourd also returned to American Horror Story for its ninth season, 1984, portraying serial killer-chased punk rocker Montana Duke. Murphy stated that her work in 1984 impressed him so much that he decided to write Lourd her own miniseries. She appeared in the ninth episode of the eleventh and final season of the NBC sitcom Will & Grace as Fiona, the granddaughter of the character that her real-life grandmother, Debbie Reynolds, portrayed during the show’s original run. In December 2019, Lourd appeared in a holiday-themed television commercial for Old Navy.
On February 26, 2020, it was announced that Lourd would return to American Horror Story for the tenth season of the series. She is also set to star in the upcoming movie Ticket To Paradise alongside Julia Roberts and George Clooney.
Personal life
Lourd is engaged to actor Austen Rydell, with whom she has one child.
Lourd named her child Kingston Fisher Lourd Rydell to pay tribute to her late mother, actress Carrie Fisher, who died in 2016 at the age of 60.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix | |
| 2017 | Star Wars: The Last Jedi | ||
| 2018 | Billionaire Boys Club | Rosanna Ricci | |
| 2019 | Booksmart | Gigi | Won—Best Supporting Actress (Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society) |
| Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix | ||
| Young Princess Leia Organa | CGI of Carrie Fisher | ||
| 2022 | Ticket To Paradise | Wren Butler |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–2016 | Scream Queens | Sadie Swenson / Chanel#3 | Main role |
| 2017 | American Horror Story: Cult | Winter Anderson | |
| Linda Kasabian | Episode: “Charles (Manson) in Charge” | ||
| 2018 | American Horror Story: Apocalypse | Mallory | Main role |
| 2019 | American Horror Story: 1984 | Montana Duke | |
| 2020 | Will & Grace | Fiona Adler | Episode: “Bi-plane” |
| 2021 | American Horror Story: Double Feature | TBA | Upcoming series; (season 10) |
Producer
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TBA | Wildflower | Film; pre-production |