Billie Lourd made her first public appearance since the inopportune death of mother Carrie Fisher, attending Thursday’s Star Wars celebration in Orlando.
“My mom used to say she never knew where Princess Leia ended and Carrie Fisher began,” she shared onstage. “She was imperfect in many ways. but her imperfections and willingness to speak about them are what made her more than perfect. My mom, like Leia, wasn’t ever afraid to speak her mind and say things that might have made most people uncomfortable. But, not me and not you. That was why she loved you, because you accepted and embraced all of her.”
“She loved you. She loved these movies. And she loved this force called Leia,” the Scream Queens star continued. “It’s not about what you were fighting—it’s how you fought it. How you resisted. In our world, Star Wars became a religion and a way of life. “I wanted to be here with you because I know you feel the same way.”
Lourd was dressed in a custom Tom Ford for the event, which was inspired by the costume Princess Leia wore in the 1977 feature film.
Fisher was also honored by the original Star Wars cast and George Lucas, the man responsible for casting her iconic role nearly 40 years ago, “She was a princess, she was a senator… she was the boss, it was her war,” he said, “There are not very many people like her. They are one in a billion.”
Lucas added that he and Fisher’s former co-stars will always remember her as “the princess who took command and never backed down.”
The late actress passed away in December after going into cardiac arrest on a flight. Her mother, Singin’ in the Rain sensation Debbie Reynolds died of a stroke the following day.
Watch Carrie’s tribute video below.
WATCH: Moving tribute video to the late Carrie Fisher from @StarWars? Celebration Orlando. #SWCO https://t.co/IDiyhnq3Dy pic.twitter.com/MaVpWCn1MP
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 13, 2017