Todd Fisher says fan support since the passing of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds has been "truly heart-warming".
The 59-year-old actor was left devastated in December when he lost his sister Carrie and their mother Debbie within one day of each other, but says the tragic loss was made slightly more bearable by the "outpouring of love" the family received from the fans of the late actresses.
He said: "I love it. I did not expect it exactly. We expected something, but I did not expect the width and breadth of the outpouring of love. It’s substantial. And it’s been truly heart-warming to all of us. We felt like we were not alone. We had millions of people with us."
And Todd also believes the family were able to cope with the loss of the two Hollywood icons because the ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ actress – who passed away on December 28 – raised the family to believe they will "all meet again".
He added: "We all had a very close relationship, and nothing was left unspoken or undone, so there’s no regrets. That is important. Everyone should say what they need to say to their loved ones because you don’t know what tomorrow might bring. And so it was beautiful that we all had those moments, not knowing they were our last moments, but at least we had them and we’re all a little more OK with the loss because of that.
"We’re people of faith — my mother raised us that way, and we believe we will all meet again. And without those thoughts, it would all be pretty depressing. It would be wholly unacceptable to think we’d never meet again."
One family member who is still "struggling" with the loss, however, is 24-year-old Billie Lourd, the daughter of the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ star who passed away on December 27 aged 60.
Todd said of Billie: "She’s struggling. You know, she’s 24 years old and just took a huge shot. You can see her on Instagram sucking it up and acting like everything’s fine, but it’s very tough.
"She’s also Carrie and Debbie. She’s a little ball of fire, watch out. She’s a very cool girl, but she’s very inspirational too. She’s going to pull through. She’s just going to limp along a little bit. And she’s an excellent actress."
The death of the stars has "shaken" both their surviving family, and their devoted fans.
Speaking to Us Weekly magazine at the TCM Classic Film Festival, Todd said: "We took this huge loss. They were no small girls. They were no small change. When they left the planet, they left a lot of people kind of shaken. And we’re no exception to that."
Todd Fisher: Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds fan support ‘truly heartwarming’
