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Billie Lourd on Her Life Today After Losing Mom Carrie Fisher and Grandmother Debbie Reynolds: “Now I Get to Be Just Billie”
It looks like Billie Lourd is handling the loss of her mom and grandmother with grace. The American Horror Story actress got candid in a recent interview with co-star Sarah Paulson. In the newest issue of Town & Country, the actress opened up about finding her voice after the devastating tragedy of losing Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds just one day apart from each other.
MORE: Billie Lourd's Impression of Her Grandmother Debbie Reynolds Is Spot-On!
"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 admitted. "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."
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It must have not always been easy following in her mother's footsteps. But, Billie revealed that it was actually her mother who had a hand in her decision to begin acting. “[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. If you’re comfortable here, you should do this,'" she continued.
MORE: You Can Soon Get Your Hands on Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds' Personal Belongings
After losing her mom to sleep apnea late last year and then her grandma to a stroke shortly after, Billie had to learn how to grieve both of their deaths. She explained that remembering her mom's sense of humor got her through it.
“If life’s not funny, then it’s just true — and that would be unacceptable,” she said. "Even when [my mom] died, that was what got me through that whole thing. When [my grandmother] died the next day, I could just picture her saying, ‘Well, she’s upstaging me once again, of course — she had to.'"
