Billie Lourd Will Return With A Larger Role In 'Star Wars Episode 8'

Billie Lourd was on the red carpet for Fox's Scream Queens at Paleyfest on Saturday night. We'll have a full story on Scream Queens later but we got the chance to ask Lourd about her brief appearance in the Star Wars saga. As you probably know, Lourd is Carrie Fisher's daughter and you may have spotted her in the Resistance base scenes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But will she return for Rian Johnson's Star Wars Episode VIII?

So, first of all, Rian Johnson has definitely asked Lourd to appear in Episode VIII, she tells us.

"Yes," Lourd said. "I can't say much about it but yes."

Another reporter on the press line even asked Lourd what is next for her, and Star Wars is the only upcoming project she brought up.

"I am working on Star Wars VIII but that's all I can say," she said.

Now don't worry if you're reading this thinking, "Who did Billie Lourd play in The Force Awakens and why is she in the next one?" She was an Easter egg to pay homage to the Fisher legacy, but her character was Lieutenant Connix. Since the former Princess Leia is now a general, Connix is in her unit. She asks her mom, "General, are you seeing this?" while Leia watches from her command center.

Wherever Johnson is taking the story, we can imagine General Leia has a need for her lieutenants. Lourd confirmed to us that her role will be bigger in Episode VIII, although not exactly how much more screen time she'd have.

"Oh yeah, yeah," Lourd told us. "The last one was a little Where's Waldo-y."

Lourd knew enough to be cagey about her participation in the next Star Wars film, but also say enough with inflection that doesn't translate into print. Our last question was would she have more scenes with her mother. Lourd's suggestive answer implies that she very well could. She is Leia's lieutenant, after all.

"Maaaaaybe," Lourd said as she moved down the line.

Star Wars: Episode VIII is now filming. It will be released December 15, 2017. Scream Queens returns for season two on Fox in the fall.