Billie Lourd joins Will & Grace as the granddaughter of her real-life late grandmother Debbie Reynolds
Nearly 20 years after Debbie Reynolds won an Emmy for her role as Grace Adler’s (Debra Messing) fabulously over-the-top mother on Will & Grace, her granddaughter, Billie Lourd, will guest star on the final season of the NBC show. The American Horror Story alum will play Fiona Adler, who is niece to Grace, the daughter of Janet Adler (Mary McCormack), and the granddaughter of Bobbi Adler. Reynolds portrayed Bobbi from 1999 to 2006.
The episode, which is scheduled to be filmed on Wednesday, September 25th, will see Fiona looking to reconnect with her “cool aunt,” according to Deadline.
Following the official casting announcement, Lourd shared the exciting news via Instagram alongside a series of photos of Reynolds’s character during her time on the sitcom. In the caption, she opened up about how special this role is to her.
"I have watched and loved Will & Grace since I was (probably too) young. So getting to watch my grandma play Grace’s mom was one o’ the coolest things to happen to my young willandgraceobsessed self," she wrote. "Next week I get to play my real-life grandma’s on-screen granddaughter on one of my favorite shows and there are not enough happy adjectives in the world to convey the excitement I feel."
Will & Grace co-creator and executive producer Max Mutchnick posted a sweet message on his Instagram as well.
"It's Hollywood royalty on the 'Will & Grace' stage this week. Billie Lourd plays the granddaughter of real-life grandmother Debbie Reynolds. I loved Debbie, I loved Carrie and I love this apple who did not fall far from her trees," he captioned a pic.
Reynolds passed away in 2016 at the age of 84, just one day after her daughter and Lourd’s mother, Carrie Fisher, died of a heart attack. Following her death, Will & Grace honored the beloved actress with a tribute episode that featured Grace going back home for her late mother’s birthday.
Meanwhile, Lourd isn’t the only famous star who’s joining the next season of Will & Grace. Ryan Phillippe is set to appear as himself and Demi Lovato has also been cast to play the role of Jenny, “a guarded gal who comes into the life of Will (Eric McCormack) in an unexpected way,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1qzV2IBvM3
There aren’t many details regarding her role, but fans are already speculating Lovato’s character could be his surrogate or maybe even his long-lost daughter.
First shot with Ms #DemiLovato! #WillandGrace @nbc pic.twitter.com/prtFcYGR92
— Eric McCormack (@EricMcCormack) August 27, 2019
Will & Grace returns for its final season in 2020.
