Billie Lourd says Pamela Anderson is ‘extremely hardworking’ (exclusive)

Billie Lourd describes Pamela Anderson in one word: Queen!

During participation The Last ShowgirlAt the world premiere of “The 40 Fingers” at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday, Sept. 6, Lourd, 32, calls her co-star Anderson, 57, a “queen” to PEOPLE when asked what it was like working with her on the new film.

“It was incredible. She's the hardest-working, most dedicated actress ever,” Lourd says of her co-star. “She put everything into this role and every scene, every line meant so much to her and I couldn't be more grateful to be able to work with her. She's inspirational. Total inspiration, as the kids say – I'm still trying to be a kid, so I remain something of an inspiration.”

Lourd and Anderson starred alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song and Kiernan Shipka in The Last Showgirldirected by Gia Coppola. The film follows Anderson as a Las Vegas showgirl who is in danger of losing the job she has held for 30 years, according to an official synopsis from the festival.

Lourd plays the daughter of Anderson's character and jokes to PEOPLE that she never thought she would “bring genetics on screen with [Anderson.]”

Shipka, 24, also tells PEOPLE that the meeting with the Baywatch Icon proved to be exciting.

“I've always admired her from afar, but meeting her took everything to a whole new level because she really is such a genuine, kind, beautiful person,” Shipka says. “Just a pure human soul. And I just adore her and she's so incredibly good at it – every time she did a scene I was like, I'm in awe of her. She's incredible.”

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Anderson was last seen on screen as the subject of the 2023 documentary. Pamela, a love storywhich was co-produced by her son Brandon Lee and received two Emmy Award nominations.

“It's so weird! A movie about Vegas and mothers and daughters! Could I relate to that? 100%. That's why I fell in love with it,” Lourd tells PEOPLE of the film, noting that the plot, setting and characters reminded her of her late mother, Carrie Fisher, and her late grandmother, Debbie Reynolds.

“My grandmother was a showgirl herself and my mother was kind of the character that I got to play. So it was really cathartic and incredible to be in this movie and play this role,” she says. “It was really cool.”

The Last Showgirl celebrated its world premiere in Toronto on Friday, September 6th.