The daughter of the late Carrie Fisher, Billie Lourd, auditioned for the part of Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
With Star Wars: The Last Jedi on the not too far distant horizon, the usual Star Wars chatter is only going to increase, and we have learnt an interesting little piece of behind the scenes history this week thanks to Billie Lourd.
Lourd, speaking on The Ellen Show, revealed that director of Episode VII, J.J. Abrams, asked her to come in and read for the starring role of Rey, which would eventually go to Daisy Ridley.
“J.J. Abrams called me to come in for Star Wars because he couldn’t find someone for the lead,” Lourd explained. “He ended up finding Daisy Ridley who’s an incredible actress, so talented. But I went in and he ended up giving me this tiny role with a couple of lines. I was super excited. I didn’t know what was going to happen and ended up going and fell in love with it.”
As referenced, Lourd ended up appearing in the film as Lieutenant Connix opposite her mother, Fisher, in The Force Awakens, and will also return for Star Wars: The Last Jedi this December.
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In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set for release on December 14th in the UK and December 15th in the States and sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb), Simon Pegg (Unkar Plutt), and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, and Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park).