Kelly Marie Tran (born January 17, 1989, San Diego, California, U.S.) is an American actress best known for her performances in the Star Wars movie franchise and the Disney movie Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). However, Tran’s rise to fame came with online harassment. After costarring in Star Wars: Episode VIII—The Last Jedi (2017), Tran was bullied online for her appearance, gender, and race. She subsequently deleted her social media posts to concentrate on her emotional well-being.
Tran’s parents were refugees who fled Vietnam after the Vietnam War. To support Tran and her two sisters, Tran’s father, who had been homeless as a child, worked at a Burger King, and her mother worked in funeral homes. Growing up, Tran participated in musical theater and studied voice, drama, and piano in high school. To earn money for headshots, she worked at a local frozen yogurt shop. After briefly attending Palomar College in San Diego, she transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications.
After college, Tran worked as an office assistant during the day to support herself. In the evening she performed in local improvisational and sketch comedy shows for the Upright Citizens Brigade and The Second City. At Second City, Tran was part of an Asian American female comedy troupe. She also worked on YouTube videos for CollegeHumor, an Internet comedy company. Tran began her television career with a guest appearance on the series This Indie Thing (2011). She had bit parts in several short films, including Untouchable and Impressions (both 2011). Tran later appeared in several episodes of the television comedy series Ladies Like Us (2013–15) and CollegeHumor Originals (2014–16).
Tran’s big break came in 2017 when she was cast to play the main character of Rose Tico in Star Wars: Episode VIII—The Last Jedi. Rose is a maintenance technician for the freedom fighters—called the Resistance—and helps in a mission to destroy the First Order, a powerful and evil military organization. That same year, Tran became the first Asian American woman to appear on the cover of the popular lifestyle magazine Vanity Fair, with her Star Wars costars John Boyega and Oscar Isaac. In 2018 Tran voiced the character of Rose for the television shows Star Wars: Forces of Destiny and Lego Star Wars: All-Stars. The following year, she once again played the character, this time for a short appearance in the movie Star Wars: Episode IX—The Rise of Skywalker.
The Last Jedi received favorable reviews from critics but mixed reviews from fans. Some felt that the plot surrounding the character of Rose was boring. Others commented that Rose focused more on love and healing than on fighting against the First Order. The fans’ dislike of the character ultimately led to personal attacks against Tran. Harsh online messages about her Star Wars role were soon followed by hateful comments about her looks, race, and gender.
As a result of the personal attacks, Tran decided to focus on her mental health. In 2018 she deleted her Instagram posts, leaving only a message that stated, “Afraid, but doing it anyway.” She sought therapy and wrote an essay that was published in The New York Times titled “Kelly Marie Tran: I Won’t Be Marginalized by Online Harassment.” In the essay, she discussed how negative remarks about her appearance, gender, and race had made her feel unattractive and demeaned. Her essay went on to state that she hoped to live in a world where women are not scrutinized for their appearance, and people of all types are seen as human beings, regardless of their differences.
In 2020 Tran voiced the character of Dawn Betterman in the animated film The Croods: A New Age. The following year, she continued to voice the character, this time in the television show The Croods: Family Tree. That same year, she voiced the character of the warrior Raya in the animated film Raya and the Last Dragon. In doing so, she became the first person of Southeast Asian heritage to voice a Disney princess.