J.J. Abrams might need Princess Leia’s gold bikini for Star Wars: Episode VII, after all.
Part of the fun of the pre-production and eventual filming on Star Wars: Episode VII has been guessing who plays which character in the anticipated sequel. Obviously, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher are reprising their famous roles of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, respectively. Yet every time we hear a new name mentioned, we speculate on where they might fit into the new galaxy (far, far away). The latest bit of casting news floating through the ether surrounds Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, who Latino-Review recently linked to a mysterious Star Wars part. "Could be a cameo," is all the site could report at the time.
Now we’re hearing a few more specific details.
The Daily Mail, a UK publication, is going on record to report that Billie Lourd actually is playing a young version of Princess Leia. A source allegedly told The Sun (which The Daily Mail picked up) that Lourd "will even have her hair tied up in Princess Leia-style buns," and that Carrie Fisher "wanted somebody in her family to play her most famous role." Get ready for more of this!
Billie Lourd is the daughter of Carrie Fisher and casting agent Bryan Lourd. The Sun states that she was cast because of her similarity to Carrie Fisher, though you never know HOW J.J. Abrams plans to use her. Normal thinking implies that she’d play young Leia in a traditional flashback. At the same time, Abrams is the guy who reset the Star Trek timeline by sending the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) back in time to alter the path and create new, younger versions of our beloved sci-fi characters. It’s unlikely that Abrams has such drastic plans in place for his initial (and possibly only) foray into the Star Wars universe. Then again, this is a guy who asked everyone to lie about Khan’s identity in Star Trek Into Darkness, so anything is possible.
At this stage, both the casting of Billie Lourd and the part that she might play fall under the massive "Rumor" category that collects all Star Wars materials not confirmed by Disney, Bad Robot or LucasFilm. J.J. Abrams has been pretty good about keeping fans up to speed on the latest casting movements. Hell, he even let Kevin Smith stop by his set… which led to tears. File this one away as "probable" that Carrie Fisher’s daughter is part of Star Wars: Episode VII, and even playing young Princess Leia. Then try to act surprised when it actually happens next December.
