Actress Billie Lourd said she is experiencing the “reality of grief” on the sixth anniversary of her mother’s death alongside the “magic of life” after recently giving birth to her second child.
Carrie Fisher, who found fame as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, died on December 27th, 2016 at the age of 60, days after falling ill on a flight from London to Los Angeles.
To mark her death, Scream Queens actress Lourd, 30, shared a photograph of herself as a child wearing a multi-coloured top alongside a smiling Fisher.
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The star of TV anthology series American Horror Story captioned it: “It has been 6 years since my Momby died (feels like 2 but also like 705 at the same time?). And unlike most other years since she’s died, this year, these past two weeks have been some of the most joyful of my life.
“Giving birth to my daughter and watching my son meet her have been two of the most magical moments I have ever experienced. But with the magic of life tends to come the reality of grief.
“My mom is not here to meet either of them and isn’t here to experience any of the magic. Sometimes the magical moments can also be the hardest. That’s the thing about grief.
“I wish my Momby were here, but she isn’t. So all I can do is hold onto the magic harder, hug my kids a little tighter. Tell them a story about her. Share her favourite things with them. Tell them how much she would have loved them.”
She added: “For anyone out there experiencing the reality of grief alongside the magic of life, I see you. You are not alone. Don’t ignore either. Life can be magical and griefy at the same time.”
Fisher was 19 when she was cast in the role that defined her career, opposite Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford in Star Wars.
She reprised her role as Princess Leia in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
The latter film was dedicated to her and she later appeared in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker through the use of unreleased footage from The Force Awakens.
In September 2020, Lourd announced the surprise news of her son Kingston’s birth on social media, three months after confirming her engagement.
On December 12, she gave birth to her first daughter Jackson, nine months after marrying producer Austen Rydell in a sunset ceremony at Cabo San Lucas.
Lourd, who appeared as Lieutenant Connix in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, is the grandchild of Hollywood royalty Debbie Reynolds and the singer Eddie Fisher.
