“I’ll Dabble in the Cold”: 15 Minutes in Aspen With Billie Lourd

THURSDAY 12:42 PM, DECEMBER 19, 2024 ASPEN 

Following a 12-hour transatlantic flight and a martini-soaked layover in Los Angeles, I landed at Aspen Airport alongside a bevy of passengers wearing puffer vests and sipping on Erewhon smoothies. On the cusp of Christmas break, the ski town hosted the 12th annual Snow Polo World Championship, attracting a cast of out-of-towners costumed in cowboy hats, vintage chinchillas, and oversized sunglasses. The St. Regis Hotel group, at the helm of its 120th anniversary, lodged a bevy of snow bunnies, including Riley Keough, Jeremy Pope, and Billie Lourd, who took part in all of the hotel’s après activities and the slope-side Polo match. Between caviar bumps and champagne sword fights, I snuck a moment with Lourd, the actress, Hollywood scion, and star of Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, to talk room service, Paw Patrol, and Pamela Anderson.

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MITCHELL NUGENT: Where are you traveling from?

BILLIE LOURD: Los Angeles, but by way of Palm Springs. I just finished a movie in Palm Springs, literally wrapped, then went home, saw my kids for one day, and came here.

NUGENT: Have you been to Aspen before?

LOURD: When I was eight years old, which doesn’t count. I don’t really have memories from when I was eight years old, so in theory, no. Complicated answer to a question that’s not complicated.

NUGENT: Do you like the cold?

LOURD: For short spurts, but you can’t beat a sunny, 75-degree day. But I’ll dabble in the cold.

NUGENT: When you’re in a tent popping champagne and wearing vintage Dolce & Gabbana.

LOURD: It’s the only way. I’m a horrible person.

NUGENT: We all are. What’s your favorite apres ski activity?

LOURD: I don’t do so much apres ski, but I just learned how to open champagne with a sword, so I guess that’s my new activity. It took me a few tries.

NUGENT: That’s so scary. What’s your go-to room service order?

LOURD: Chicken tenders, french fries, and weirdly… baked beans. I like to put baked beans on top of chicken tenders. It’s very British, I guess.

NUGENT: Do you find baked beans often included in room service?

LOURD: No, it’s rare.

NUGENT: Who did you sit next to at dinner last night?

LOURD: I sat with my husband Austen [Rydell], and Riley [Keough] and Jeremy [Pope], and Jamie [Mizrahi] and it was a stunning crew.

NUGENT: Are you friends with everyone?

LOURD: I’m friends with my husband, obviously. Riley and I have never met, but 8,000 people have said we need to meet, and now we finally met, and I get why.

NUGENT: Kismet.

LOURD: She’s awesome.

NUGENT: What’s your Aspen style? I’m surprised you’re not wearing earmuffs – that was Chanel No. 3’s signature on Scream Queens. 

LOURD: My Aspen style seems to be leopard coats and boots, I guess. But this is my first time, so I’m learning my Aspen style. But I should have earmuffs. My ears feel naked.

NUGENT: You need them. So The Last Showgirl is receiving so much praise. What was your reaction when you learned that you got the part of Hannah?

LOURD: I have never been more excited about a project. It was an absolute dream come true. Pamela Anderson, all hail. She is so brilliant and so hardworking and I’m so happy that she is getting all the praise that she is because she deserves it more than anybody else. And working with Jamie Lee Curtis, I could just go on and on about that cast. It was the dream job. I peaked.

NUGENT: They’re both so iconic.

LOURD: It’s insane. There’s no words.

NUGENT: What was your favorite film this year?

LOURD: I mean, Sonic Three comes to mind because I have a four-year-old.

NUGENT: Is that your kid’s favorite?

LOURD: It keeps him busy. He loves Sonic so much.

NUGENT: And there’s three of them?

LOURD: Everybody go see it. Support Sonic so that my son gets more Sonic movies, please. Then he lets me go to Aspen and do champagne swording.

NUGENT: What are your holiday plans?

LOURD: Hanging out with my kids watching Sonic. Paw Patrol, baby.

NUGENT: Paw Patrol, too?

LOURD: Oh, there’s a lot of Paw Patrol, but it’s really Sonic. Everything’s Sonic. Like, when I was young, it was Rugrats. For him, it’s Sonic. He needs to have Sonic pants, Sonic shirts, Sonic shoes, Sonic underwear. It turns out this is a Sonic advertisement. Actually, I should play Sonic.

NUGENT: Live-action.

LOURD: Yeah. But we’re going to Hawaii, which I’m excited about.

NUGENT: Some R&R.

LOURD: R&R needed. I never work and now I’ve done two movies and a TV show in the past month.

NUGENT: That’s crazy.

LOURD: It’s great, but yeah.

NUGENT: Since this is Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine, let’s do a rapid fire Warhol questionnaire.

LOURD: Let’s go.

NUGENT: These are all questions that he asked subjects when he was editing the magazine.

LOURD: Oh, cool.

NUGENT: Do you dream?

LOURD: Hell yeah.

NUGENT: Do you have any superstitions?

LOURD: Oh, yeah. I’m a big head-knocker kind of person. A lot.

NUGENT: Showers or baths?

LOURD: Ooh, both. But I don’t get to do baths because I have kids and I watch Sonic.

NUGENT: What are you reading right now?

LOURD: Daniel Tiger books. Literally a mom. It’s sad.

NUGENT: What was your first job?

LOURD: I worked at this company called Insomniac because I used to want to throw music festivals, and then I worked at HBO Documentaries and then I worked at Another Planet. Nobody wanted me to be an actress, but here I am.

NUGENT: When do you get nervous?

LOURD: All the time. Always nervous. Really, on planes. I don’t like flying. I don’t like it. I don’t like it.

NUGENT: Have you ever trashed a hotel room?

LOURD: No. I’m a good person, kind of.

NUGENT: What did you have for breakfast?

LOURD: Oh, we had such a good omelet. This St. Regis omelet was bananas.

NUGENT: Do you keep a diary?

LOURD: Yes, when I have time.

NUGENT: On your iPhone notes or you write in a—

LOURD: iPhone notes. But I like to have a laptop and type like an old-school person, because I’m older-ish. I’m wearing a leopard coat, but I’m old.

NUGENT: What are you most proud of?

LOURD: My kids.

NUGENT: And do you get eight hours a night?

LOURD: Hell no. See previous question.