--- description: Carrie Fisher's daughter did make an appearance in The Force Awakens, but apparently not in the role she was initially gunning for. title: Princess Leia's Daughter Almost Played This Star Wars Role image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb42fabef32a585a1/6988ddaa4ee262a1d130efbc/billie-lourd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Princess Leia's Daughter Almost Played This Major _Star Wars_ Role  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 13, 2017 8:24 PM CUT  Billie Catherine Lourd attends the 2016 Entertainment Weekly & People New York Upfront at Cedar Lake on May 16, 2016 in New York, New York. Billie Catherine Lourd attends the 2016 Entertainment Weekly & People New York Upfront at Cedar Lake on May 16, 2016 in New York, New York.Mike Pont/WireImage  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 13, 2017 8:24 PM CUT [Carrie Fisher’s](http://time.com/4891759/star-wars-john-boyega-on-carrie-fisher/ "undefined") daughter, [Billie Lourd](http://time.com/4738820/star-wars-celebration-billie-lourd-carrie-fisher-tribute/ "undefined"), did make an [appearance in _Star Wars:_ _The Force Awakens_](http://time.com/4143021/star-wars-the-force-awakens-billie-lourd-carrie-fisher/ "undefined"), but apparently not in the role she was initially gunning for. During a Monday appearance on _The Ellen DeGeneres Show_, Lourd revealed that she met with director J. J. Abrams to discuss following in her mother’s Princess Leia footsteps by playing the lead in _Episode VII_ of the galaxy far, far away saga. “J.J. Abrams called me to come in for _Star Wars_ because he couldn’t find someone for the lead,” she explained, referring to the role of Rey. “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 lines. I was super excited.” Lourd also spoke about how much it meant to her to act alongside Fisher — who [passed away](http://time.com/4618454/carrie-fisher-dead-reactions/ "undefined") in December at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack — as a Resistance fighter in the film. “It was incredible,” she said. “I’m a big believer in things happening for a reason and I think I ended up in that movie for a reason. It was really incredible for us to have that experience together.” Watch the full clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4940100/star-wars-carrie-fisher-daughter-billie-lourd-rey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4940100/star-wars-carrie-fisher-daughter-billie-lourd-rey/"},"headline":"Princess Leia's Daughter Almost Played This Major Star Wars Role","datePublished":"2017-09-13T20:24:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:24:45.203Z","description":"Billie Lourd was in the running for this character in The Force Awakens","url":"https://time.com/4940100/star-wars-carrie-fisher-daughter-billie-lourd-rey/","keywords":["movies","celebrities","Star Wars topic","carrie fisher","Princess Leia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb42fabef32a585a1/6988ddaa4ee262a1d130efbc/billie-lourd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb42fabef32a585a1/6988ddaa4ee262a1d130efbc/billie-lourd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Billie Lourd","caption":"Billie Catherine Lourd attends the 2016 Entertainment Weekly & People New York Upfront at Cedar Lake on May 16, 2016 in New York, New York.","creditText":"Mike Pont/WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4940100/star-wars-carrie-fisher-daughter-billie-lourd-rey/","name":"Princess Leia's Daughter Almost Played This Major Star Wars Role"}}]}] ```