Billie Lourd stepped into the spotlight for the first time since losing her mother, Carrie Fisher on Thursday during a Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida. "My mom used to say she never knew where Princess Leia ended and Carrie Fisher began," the 24-year-old actress said on stage.
"She was imperfect in many ways but her imperfections and willingness to speak about them are what made her more than perfect." The Scream Queens star continued: "My mom, like Leia, wasn't ever afraid to speak her mind and say things that might have made most people uncomfortable."
Billie posed with her mother's co-star Harrison Ford and the film's creator George Lucas
Billie took the stage in a custom white Tom Ford dress in honour of her mother's Princess Leia costume. While speaking to the audience, she called Carrie a "true soldier of a woman," who "often openly found her own dark side knowing early on that we all have a dark side to fight, whatever it may be." She continued, "But she knew it wasn’t about the fight you were fighting but how you fought it, the way you resisted."
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Carrie died in Los Angeles on 27 December, after going into cardiac arrest four days earlier on a flight from London to Los Angeles. One day later, Carrie's mother and Billie's grandmother, Debbie Reynolds passed away after having a stroke.
The actress paid tribute to her mother's Star Wars character wearing a custom Tom Ford dress
The actress ended the speech by honouring Carrie's memory on screen and off. "She taught me by her own example," she said. "That the most evolved person is seemingly a contradiction, they are both the strongest and most vulnerable person in the room. And that was her. That is Leia."
At the end of the ceremony, Billie, who has found comfort in boyfriend Taylor Lautner since the passing of both her mother and grandmother, took to her Instagram to thank the fans who came out to the event. "Feeling the ultimate strength of the force from all of the incredible fans at #starwarscelebration after our tribute to my #momby."