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Kelly Marie Tran

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Kelly Marie Tran
Tran in 2017
Born
Loan Tran[1][2]

(1989-01-17) January 17, 1989 (age 35)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
OccupationActress
Years active2011–present

Kelly Marie Tran (born Loan Tran,[1][2] January 17, 1989) is an American actress. She began acting in 2011, with most of her roles being in short film and television. She came to global prominence for her role as Rose Tico in the Star Wars sequel trilogy films The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019).[3] She also voiced Raya in the Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) and Dawn Betterman in the DreamWorks Animation film The Croods: A New Age (2020).

Early life

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Kelly Marie Tran was born on January 17, 1989,[4][5] in San Diego, California.[1] Her parents were refugees from Vietnam who fled the country following the Vietnam War.[6][7] As a child, her father was homeless and grew up on the streets of Vietnam.[8] After moving to the United States, her father worked at Burger King to support the family, and her mother worked at a funeral home.[9]

Tran attended Westview High School in San Diego and worked at a yogurt shop to earn money for head shots.[10][8] Tran then graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts in communications.[9][11]

Career

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2011–2014: Early work

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Tran's early credits consisted of primarily CollegeHumor videos and small TV roles.[8][12] She landed a commercial agent in 2011, who got Tran to take improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade. At The Second City, Tran is part of the all-female, Asian-American improv group, Number One Son.[8][13]

In 2013, she starred in the web series Ladies Like Us.[11] In 2015, Tran was working as an assistant at a creative recruiting firm in Century City.[8]

2015–2019: Star Wars and mainstream success

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In 2015, Tran was cast as Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rose Tico is a rebel mechanic who joins up with main character Finn after the sacrifice of her oldest sister, Paige Tico (Veronica Ngo), a gunner trained by Resistance commander Poe Dameron.[14] When she went to shoot her scenes in England in early 2016, she was required to keep her role secret, so she told her family she was making an independent film in Canada.[15] The Last Jedi made Tran the first Asian-American woman to have a major role in a Star Wars film.[12] In 2017, she also became the first woman of Asian descent to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair when she appeared on the cover of the summer 2017 issue with actor John Boyega (who played Finn) and Oscar Isaac (who played X-wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron).[16]

Tran plays the lead role of Kaitlin Le in Radiotopia's mystery thriller podcast Passenger List.[17] She was a series regular on the Facebook Watch series Sorry for Your Loss.[18]

2020–present

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Tran voiced Raya in the Walt Disney Animation Studios production Raya and the Last Dragon, replacing Cassie Steele.[19] Tran was set to voice Val Little in the Disney+ series Monsters at Work, but was replaced by Mindy Kaling. She has also been cast as Dawn in the film The Croods: A New Age, replacing Kat Dennings.[20][21]

Tran is an executive producer on Jeremy Workman's 2021 documentary Lily Topples the World, which follows 21-year-old domino toppling artist Lily Hevesh.[22] The documentary premiered to critical acclaim at the 2021 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary.[23]

Tran is also an executive producer of the spoken-word poetry ensemble film Summertime, marking her second collaboration with Raya and the Last Dragon director Carlos López Estrada.[24] Tran and Estrada announced that they were establishing a new production company called Antigravity Academy in November 2022, intending to help produce entertainment from and about people from historically excluded communities.[25]

Upcoming projects

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Tran will next star in Tayarisha Poe's second feature film, The Young Wife, alongside Kiersey Clemons,[26] and in Me, Myself & The Void. She is also currently developing a biopic about civil rights activist and her close friend Amanda Nguyen.[27]

Personal life

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After the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in December 2017, Tran became the subject of racist and sexist attacks over the Internet,[28][29][30][31] including insults about her ethnicity and size.[32] She was the target of racist trolling on Twitter; in one example, Internet personality Paul Ray Ramsey mocked her size.[30][33][34] Her character Rose Tico's entry on Wookieepedia, an online encyclopedia about the Star Wars universe, was edited by internet trolls to include racist and vulgar comments, which drew national media attention. Fandom, the wiki hosting service that operated the domain, removed the offensive edits, protected the page, and publicly condemned the vandalism.[29][30][33]

After months of online harassment, Tran deleted all of her Instagram posts in June 2018,[28][35][2] and replaced the account bio with, "Afraid, but doing it anyway."[32][36][37] She also pursued therapy following the harassment.[38] Subsequently, several cast and crew members of The Last Jedi condemned the attacks and spoke out in defense of Tran, including writer-director Rian Johnson and actors John Boyega,[39][40][41] Domhnall Gleeson,[42][43] and Mark Hamill,[37][44] who posted a picture of himself with Tran and wrote the caption, "What's not to love? #GetALifeNerds".[36][37][45] Johnson branded the attackers as "manbabies",[32][46][42] and said they represent a "few unhealthy people" and not the "vast majority" of Star Wars fans.[36][37][45] Other celebrities voiced support for Tran as well, including Stephen Colbert, Josh Gad, Kumail Nanjiani, Gabrielle Union, Elijah Wood, and Edgar Wright.[36][41] In less than one day, more than 20,000 fans retweeted a message of support for Tran from a fan on Twitter that sought to "drown out the manbabies".[46] She was also shown support at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con during a "Rally for Rose", where fans appeared in cosplay attire as her Star Wars character Rose Tico or wore "Rose for Hope" T-shirts. Fans posted about the event on social media using the hashtags #ForceOutHate and #RallyForRose.[44][47] At Star Wars Celebration in April 2019, Tran received a standing ovation from fans, causing her to tear up at the reception.[48]

In August 2018, Tran penned an essay on the subject for The New York Times entitled "Kelly Marie Tran: I Won't Be Marginalized by Online Harassment".[28][2][49] She described how the matter made her self-conscious, writing that the attacks reinforced the ones she had long faced as a Vietnamese-American, and which sought to reinforce a narrative that Asians should be marginalized and treated only as minor characters, both in stories and in real life.[28][39][49] Tran further wrote that the ordeal reached a point where she began to believe the negative remarks about her, stating that they had sent her "down a spiral of self-hate, into the darkest recesses of my mind, places where I tore myself apart, where I put their words above my own self-worth."[48][50] She concluded with, "You might know me as Kelly. I am the first woman of color to have a leading role in a Star Wars movie. I am the first Asian woman to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair. My real name is Loan. And I am just getting started."[28][49] Tran later said the essay was difficult to write, but also "probably one of the proudest moments of [her] career thus far."[51]

Filmography

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† Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2012 The Cohasset Snuff Film Christine Chan Film debut
2016 XOXO Butterfly Rave Girl
2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Rose Tico
2019 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
2020 The Croods: A New Age Dawn Betterman Voice role
2021 Raya and the Last Dragon Raya Voice role [52]
2023 The Young Wife Tessa
Once Upon a Studio Raya Short film; voice role
2025 The Wedding Banquet † Angela Post-production [53]
TBA Me, Myself & The Void † Mia Post-production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2014–2016 CollegeHumor Full Asian / Kate / Kelly / Startup "Foodler" Girl / Melissa / Amber Web series
Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street Sara 3 episodes
2014 About a Boy Marguerite 2 episodes
2015 Comedy Bang! Bang! Teen Friend Episode: "Thomas Middleditch Wears an Enigmatic Sweatshirt and Sweatpants with Pockets"
Adam Ruins Everything Sharon / Phone Woman 2 episodes
2016 Sing It! Twinkle Twinkle Auditioner Episode: "THE SHOW BEGINS!"
2018 Star Wars Forces of Destiny Rose Tico Voice role
Episode: "Shuttle Shock"
Lego Star Wars: All-Stars Voice role
2 episodes
2018–2019 Sorry for Your Loss Jules Shaw 18 episodes
2020 Monsterland Lauren Episode: "Iron River, Michigan"
The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special Rose Tico Voice role;
Television special
2021 The Croods: Family Tree Dawn Betterman Voice role;
6 episodes
2022 Lego Star Wars: Summer Vacation Rose Tico Voice role;
Television special
2024 Sweet Tooth Rosie Zhang Season 3

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2018 23rd Empire Awards Best Female Newcomer Star Wars: The Last Jedi Nominated
44th Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
20th Teen Choice Awards Choice Breakout Movie Star Nominated
2022 49th Annie Awards Best Voice Acting – Feature Raya and the Last Dragon Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b c Park, Gene (August 21, 2018). "Kelly Marie Tran's real-life resistance means telling her own story, starting with her name". The Washington Post.
  2. ^ a b c d Martinelli, Marissa (August 21, 2018). "Kelly Marie Tran's Defiant Response to Racist Harassment: 'My Real Name Is Loan. And I Am Just Getting Started.'". Slate. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  3. ^ Yee, Lawrence (April 14, 2017). "Meet Rose, the 'Biggest New Part' in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'". Variety. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017.
  4. ^ "UPI Almanac for Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023". United Press International. January 17, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  5. ^ "J. Reitman to bust new set of ghosts". Journal Gazette. Fort Wayne, Ind. Associated Press. January 17, 2019. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019.
  6. ^ Yam, Kimberly (November 30, 2017). "Kelly Marie Tran Promotes 'The Last Jedi' In Traditional Vietnamese Garb". HuffPost. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  7. ^ Jasper, Marykate (December 10, 2017). "Kelly Marie Tran, the Daughter of Refugees, Couldn't Help Crying with Joy at the Last Jedi Premiere". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e Flaherty, Keely (November 14, 2017). "Kelly Marie Tran: The Rise of Rose". Buzzfeed News. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  9. ^ a b Plattner, Seth (December 10, 2017). "Kelly Marie Tran Is Bringing a New Brand of Hero to Star Wars". Elle. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  10. ^ Rocha, Michael James (February 15, 2016). "San Diego native joins 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' cast". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
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  20. ^ Galuppo, Mia (October 29, 2019). "Kelly Marie Tran Joins Voice Cast of 'Croods' Sequel (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  21. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (April 9, 2019). "'Monsters, Inc.' Voice Cast to Return for Disney+ Series (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  22. ^ Sun, Rebecca (March 3, 2021). "The Resurrection of Kelly Marie Tran: On Surviving 'Star Wars' Bullying, the Pressures of Representation, and 'Raya and the Last Dragon'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  23. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (March 19, 2021). "SXSW Film Festival: 'The Fallout' and Docu 'Lily Topples the World' Among Jury Award Winners". Deadline. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  24. ^ Hipes, Patrick (April 13, 2021). "Kelly Marie Tran Boards Carlos López Estrada's Spoken-Word Poetry Pic 'Summertime' As EP". Deadline. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  25. ^ Sun, Rebecca (November 28, 2022). "Kelly Marie Tran, Raya and the Last Dragon Director Carlos López Estrada Launch Antigravity Academy Banner (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  26. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (March 2, 2022). "'The Flash's Kiersey Clemons Leads Cast In 'The Young Wife' For FilmNation & Archer Gray". Deadline. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  27. ^ Sun, Rebecca (September 20, 2022). "Kelly Marie Tran to Star in, Produce Biopic on Activist Amanda Nguyen (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
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  43. ^ Arros, Fernanda (September 20, 2018). "Domhnall Gleeson sobre el acoso a Kelly Marie Tran: "Esas personas son idiotas"". Mouse (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
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  46. ^ a b Taylor, Chris (June 5, 2018). "'Last Jedi' director strikes back at Star Wars 'manbabies'". Mashable. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  47. ^ Yap, Audrey Cleo (December 19, 2019). "'Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker's' Kelly Marie Tran on Why Rose Tico's Story Is Also Her Own". Variety. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  48. ^ a b Fernández, Alexia (April 12, 2019). "Rose Tico Is Back! Kelly Marie Tran Tearfully Receives Standing Ovation at Star Wars Celebration". People. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  49. ^ a b c Tran, Kelly Marie (August 21, 2018). "Kelly Marie Tran: I Won't Be Marginalized by Online Harassment". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018.
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  52. ^ Brown, Tracy (March 5, 2021). "'Raya and the Last Dragon's' Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina on the 'double feeling' of making history". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  53. ^ Parsad, Sumith (April 23, 2024). "Lily Gladstone to Star in The Wedding Banquet Remake". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
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