Billie Lourd on life after mother Carrie Fisher's death

Actress Billie Lourd says her life has changed in the months since losing her mother, Carrie Fisher and her grandmother, Debbie Reynolds.

"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," Lourd said in a new interview with "Town & Country" magazine. "I love being my mother's daughter, and it's something I always will be, but now I get to be just Billie."

The interview was conducted by Lourd's friend and "American Horror Story" co-star, Sarah Paulson.

The young actress talked about her life as the daughter and granddaughter of the legendary stars.

Both died within a day of each other in December, Fisher after she went into cardiac arrest on a flight and Reynolds following a stroke.

Related: Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds death certificates released

Lourd talked about her unconventional upbringing.

When she was nine years old, Lourd said she got in trouble at school for stealing and her mother responded by asking, "Are you going to grow up to be an a**hole?"

"And I started crying," Lourd recalled. "She talked to me like an adult my whole life. I always think that now: I don't want to grow up to be an a**hole!"

The 25-year-old is trying to establish her own identity apart from her famous lineage, she said.

"It's a lot of pressure, because [her mother Carrie Fisher] had such an incredible legacy, and now I have to uphold that and make it evolve in my own way," Lourd said.

She also said she appreciates how open her mother was about her life, including her struggles with substance abuse.

"It's good to be authentic, to help other people, but if it's not helping other people, then don't do it," Lourd said. "There were a couple incidents I wish she could have kept to herself. But, you know, that was the beauty of her.