Director Fisher Stevens says his documentary film, "Bright Lights," on the relationship between Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds is a love story

Record ID: 163509

  • Title: Director Fisher Stevens says his documentary film, "Bright Lights," on the relationship between Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds is a love story
  • Date: 6th January 2017
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (FILE - DECEMBER 2015) (REUTERS) MORE OF FISHER AT STAR WARS PREMIERE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE - APRIL 12, 2012) (REUTERS) ACTRESS DEBBIE REYNOLDS SPEAKING TO REPORTER ON THE RED CARPET OF THE TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2017 21:50
  • Keywords: Debbie Reynolds Carrie Fisher Bright Lights HBO Fisher Stevens director documentary
  • Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK + LOS ANGELES + BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN FILM LOCATIONS / TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
  • City: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK + LOS ANGELES + BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN FILM LOCATIONS / TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Television
  • Reuters ID: LVA00B5XY1E8D
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The unbreakable bond between Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds is highlighted in the new documentary "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds."
    Reynolds, a leading lady in Hollywood musicals and comedies in the 1950s and 1960s, including "Singin' in the Rain," died on December 28, 2016, just one day after the death of her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher, best known for her "Star Wars" role as, Princess Leia.
    "They were such larger than life characters and they lived this incredibly big Hollywood story. And so, it's - you can kind of see in the larger narrative, 'oh, it does make sense how it ended in a weird way.' But you just never would have expected it," said co-director Fisher Stevens.
    "Especially what's so painful for us is that, you know, Debbie is the one that we thought was fragile and maybe something would happen to her. Just never dawned on Lexi (co-director Alexis Bloom) or I or anybody that Carrie - this would happen," added Stevens.
    Over the course of 18 months Stevens and co-director Alexis Bloom, captured the Hollywood stars and even developed a bond.
    "I look at clips because I've been doing a lot of press and I see Carrie, mostly Carrie because I got very close with Carrie, and I just keep thinking that this is a weird dream. So it hasn't really hit me. I do feel really bad for her daughter, Debbie's granddaughter Billie. And feel incredibly sad for Billie and for Todd," explained Stevens, who once worked with Fisher in two films.
    Fisher reached out to Stevens with the idea for the film and initially didn't know what shape the film would take. After talking to Fisher for several hours and then meeting Reynolds, who lived on the same property as her daughter, Stevens and Bloom knew they were on to something.
    "We didn't really know what the movie was going to be. We just knew it was going to be a family kind of story, but we didn't know where it was going to go. So we started - we went to Connecticut to film her act, Debbie's act. And she was incredible," said Stevens.
    "She was still like prepping and like the MGM Grand star that she was, doing her vocal warm-ups or movement exercises, getting ready for the show, working out, warming up. And you know, she had energy, but when she hit that stage, 'wow,' she just exploded, she was incredible. So that was our first big shoot and then we started filming with Carrie and interviews. And we started to see their love for each other and how much they did love each other. It was really interesting," he said.
    With the permission of Fisher's daughter and Reynolds' granddaughter Billie Lourd and Todd Fisher, son of Reynolds and younger brother to Carrie, HBO moved up the air date of the film in order to meet the demand.
    "They were very supportive," said Stevens.
    "I think Carrie was really happy that she came up with this idea and it's a beauty love story and time capsule for the two of them. And it's also, I mean the one thing I'll say is, it doesn't matter if you're from Hollywood or you're from, you know, Illinois, or Puerto Rico, anywhere. You can relate to this story because it's a story about a family and a mother and daughter and son. And father, and losing your father and feeling abandoned by your father. So that was something we started unraveling as we started making the film."
    Friends and family of the two attended a private memorial service on Thursday (January 6), at their joint residence in Beverly Hills.
    "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds" will premiere on the U.S. network HBO on January 7th.
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