J.J. Abrams Had Carrie Fisher’s Daughter Audition For Rey In The Force Awakens

Star Wars fans might already be attached to Daisy Ridley's Rey, however if things had turned out differently, the Star Wars sequel trilogy might have had Carrie Fisher's daughter as the franchise's new hero.

Speaking in an interview with Ellen Degeneres on The Ellen Show yesterday, Billie Lourd revealed that The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams had actually let her audition for the role of the sequel trilogy's skilled, Force-sensitive, Jakku orphan.

Apparently Abrams had trouble finding the lead, so he called Lourd in to read a few of Rey's lines for him.

"J.J. Abrams called me to come in for Star Wars because he couldn't find someone for the lead. 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."

Lourd also talked about how comfortable it was working with the cast and crew of The Force Awaken, remembering how her late mother suggested that her comfort level was a sign that she should continue acting.

"I was super excited. I didn't know what was going to happen and ended up going and fell in love with it. I was weirdly singing Jersey Boys on set and really comfortable. I came home and my mom said, ‘This is really weird that you're comfortable here; this is one of the most uncomfortable environments in the world. If you're comfortable here, you should do this. … You should act.'"

Of course, it comes as no surprise to hear that Lourd found a sense of comfort on the set of The Force Awakens – after all her mother had been a Star Wars legend. It breaks everyone's hearts to think that we'll all be seeing her as Leia for the last time in The Last Jedi.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits cinemas December 15, 2017.

Read: Lucasfilm Offered Episode IX To A Different Director Before Deciding On J.J. Abrams