Actress Billie Lourd is opening up about her mother, Carrie Fisher, in a new feature-length documentary, which goes behind the scenes of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
Lourd, 27, who played Lieutenant Connix in the Skywalker saga, helped chronicle how the movie incorporated Fisher’s character, Princess Leia, into the franchise’s Episode IX, which was filmed after her death.
“It’s kind of a gift from her or her forcing us to make a decision to make her the star of the movie. Probably both,” Lourd said with a laugh in an exclusive preview clip from the documentary.
MORE: Billie Lourd pays tribute to her late mom Carrie Fisher on her birthdayAs the daughter of the late Carrie Fisher, Lourd stepped into her mother’s shoes as Princess Leia in a fight scene to help filmmakers feature the character’s jedi training in the saga.
The documentary, which is available on March 17 with the digital release of “The Rise of Skywalker,” gives viewers an inside look at how filmmakers dealt with the scene’s technical obstacles.
“You see the saber fight between Luke and Leia and we were trying to use two performances between Mark and Carrie at the appropriate age,” said visual effects supervisor, Roger Guyett.
“We’re able to sort of recreate everything kind of faithfully as it was on the day, building our movie around her,” added Patrick Tubach, visual effects supervisor. “And so that involves figuring out the staging of the other characters as well.”
MORE: Billie Lourd on how she coped with the death of her mother Carrie FisherDaisy Ridley who plays Rey in the film, recalled the emotions of recreating the scene.
“The reality of having to do a scene with someone who isn’t actually there was very difficult," she said. "I sort of had to walk off and have a moment.”
While filming the scene came with challenges, the documentary also offers insight into how the beloved Carrie Fisher continued to inspire on set.
“It was a hard day, but it was a good day,” said makeup designer, Amanda Knight. “We’ve had tears and we’ve had you know, memories. The fact there were so many people around talking so fondly of her and sharing you know our memories of her, and with Billie being able to listen to what people think of her mom, was moving.”
For Lourd, it was an emotional experience but one that made her proud.
“Being back has been incredible, painful surreal -- all of the adjectives that you can come up with probably I felt,” said Lourd. “I’m so happy and she would be happy that it’s her movie too.”
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