Debbie Reynolds' Granddaughter Looks Exactly Like The Legend

Genetics are a wild thing. Sure, scientists understand the ins and outs of biology and can easily explain the topic way better than the average person. But for the rest of us, it's forever shocking to see how much certain celebrities look just like their famous relatives. For instance, Debbie Reynolds' granddaughter Billie Lourd looks so much like the legendary late actress. And she's following in the Singin' in the Rain star's Hollywood footsteps by appearing in TV and movie roles ranging from Scream Queens to American Horror Story to Booksmart.

While the pair shared a strong bond, fans likely know that Reynolds sadly passed away in December 2016, just a day after losing her daughter — the equally iconic Carrie Fisher. While 27-year-old Lourd takes after both leading ladies in appearance and sense of humor, it's old photos from Reynolds' early career that will really leave you doing a double-take. Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Look at those eyes, noses, and mouths. It's almost like seeing a set of twins — just decades apart. Billie Lourd and Debbie Reynolds have such similar facial features. Speaking of her grandma, Lourd said on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2016, "She gets really upset when I get called 'Carrie Fisher's daughter.' She wants people to call me 'Debbie Reynolds' granddaughter.' It's very offensive to her.'" In that same interview, Lourd mentioned Reynolds was initially skeptical of her joining the family business, going so far as having her read old diary entries and asking, "Are you sure you want to be an actress, dear?"

It's clear Reynolds and Lourd were close. In 2017, the rising star told Town and Country about the time they spent together, saying, "We watched Turner Classic Movies. We all would sit together in bed; their place was the bed. And my grandma was really into E! and Access Hollywood. It was so bizarre. She knew all the gossip about everything." Sweetly enough, the proud grandma wanted Lourd to see her work, so she took on kid-friendly roles. Lourd explained, "What was great is that they would do roles that they thought I would like. She did Halloweentown so that I could see her in something. She did an episode of Rugrats, too."

The resemblance between Billie Lourd and the late Carrie Fisher is pretty apparent. Just look at that side-by-side image! The mother-daughter pair also shared an on-screen project: Star Wars. Fisher played the legendary role of Princess Leia and Lourd joined the franchise for The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker. She played Lieutenant Connix.

When Lourd starred on Ryan Murphy's Scream Queens, her character Chanel #3 always wore earmuffs. The earmuffs were a nod to her mom's famous space buns, per the Hollywood Reporter. Lourd told Seth Meyers in 2016, "They are a little bit of a Princess Leia homage... It didn't start out as a plot point, I just went into the fitting, saw them [and] recognized my family heritage — which is to have weird things over your ears."

Lourd is continuing her mother's legacy in another way: fighting the stigma surrounding addiction. Following Fisher's death, the toxicology report revealed she had cocaine, methadone, ethanol, and opiates in her system, per People. "My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it," Lourd told the magazine. "I know my Mom, she'd want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles. Seek help, fight for government funding for mental health programs. Shame and those social stigmas are the enemies of progress to solutions and ultimately a cure."

While Billie Lourd has honored her grandmother and mother's legacies, she's also forging a path of her own. "I've always kind of lived in their shadows, and now is the first time in my life when I get to own my life and stand on my own," she told Town and Country in 2017. "I love being my mother's daughter, and it's something I always will be, but now I get to be just Billie."

Lourd, Reynolds, and Fisher have way more in common than just their facial features — Lourd inherited her relatives' acting talent, passion, and wit. Even so, she admitted it's a scary thing to have such big shoes to fill. "It's a lot of pressure, because [Fisher] had such an incredible legacy, and now I have to uphold that and make it evolve in my own way." Fans who have been following Lourd's career would likely agree she's already doing exactly that.