Star Wars Episode 8 Bringing Back A Side Character In A Larger Role

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a wonderful merger of the old and the new. That's because the original trilogy’s Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and a teeny-tiny glimpse of Mark Hamill combined with the new faces of Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, and Domhnall Gleeson. But there was one specific Star Wars: The Force Awakens actress that epitomized this mix: Carrie Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd. But rather than being a wee tip of the hat to her mother that will now be forgotten, Billie Lourd’s The Force Awakens character Connix will actually be expanded in Star Wars 8.

Billie Lourd made this admission to Slash Film while at the Paleyfest over the weekend to talk about her work on Scream Queens. Obviously, since she appeared in and survived Star Wars: The Force Awakens questions regarding her future in the franchise were always going to come her way. After being asked about Star Wars 8, a rather coy Billie Lourd explained over a series of quotes:

Yes. I can’t say much about it but yes … I am working on Star Wars VIII but that’s all I can say … The last [appearance] was a little Where’s Waldo-y.

As well as insisting that she would have a bigger role in Star Wars: Episode VIII, Billie Lourd was then asked if she would have more scenes with her mother, Carrie Fisher. And while she might have only remarked, "Maaaaaaybe," that still sounds like a confirmation to me.

Billie Lourd’s involvement in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was seen as the perfect homage to Carrier Fisher. Sure, her most prominent role in the blockbuster was when General Connix asked Carrie Fisher’s General Leia, "General, are you seeing this?" But just her mere presence was enough to please Star Wars fans, and a further exploration of Connix, even in the most minor way, would be much appreciated.

Especially since that would almost certainly see her acting opposite Carrie Fisher, while it would also be rather special to see Billie Lourd sharing the same screen and parting wisdom with R2-D2 and C3-PO too. Just saying.

By the sound of Billie Lourd’s remarks she hasn’t actually started work on Star Wars: Episode VIII yet, which began filming last month. That was something that writer and director Rian Johnson celebrated by uploading a clip of Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill shooting what we assume will be the first scenes of the film on Skellig Michael in Ireland.

We’ll get to see if that’s the case, and just how big Billie Lourd’s Star Wars 8 role actually is, when the blockbuster is finally released on December 15, 2017.