Kelly Marie Tran facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kelly Marie Tran
Tran in 2017
Born	Loan Tran (1989-01-17) January 17, 1989 (age 36) San Diego, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2011–present

Kelly Marie Tran (born Loan Tran, January 17, 1989) is an American actress. She started acting in 2011. Many of her early roles were in short films and TV shows. She became famous around the world for playing Rose Tico in the Star Wars movies. These included The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Kelly Marie Tran also voiced Raya in the Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). She was also the voice of Dawn Betterman in the DreamWorks Animation movie The Croods: A New Age (2020).

Early Life and Education

Kelly Marie Tran was born on January 17, 1989, in San Diego, California. Her parents came to the United States from Vietnam. They left their home country after the Vietnam War. When her father was a child, he lived on the streets in Vietnam. After moving to the U.S., her father worked at Burger King. Her mother worked at a funeral home. They worked hard to support their family.

Tran went to Westview High School in San Diego. She worked at a yogurt shop to earn money for acting photos. Later, Tran graduated from UCLA. She earned a degree in communications.

Acting Career Highlights

Starting Out in Acting (2011–2014)

Kelly Marie Tran's first acting jobs included videos for CollegeHumor. She also had small roles on TV. In 2011, she found an agent who helped her get acting jobs. This agent encouraged Tran to take improv classes. Improv is a type of acting where you make things up on the spot. She joined an all-female, Asian-American improv group called Number One Son. This group performed at The Second City.

In 2013, she acted in a web series called Ladies Like Us. By 2015, Tran was working as an assistant. She worked at a company that helped creative people find jobs.

Becoming a Star with Star Wars (2015–2019)

In 2015, Kelly Marie Tran got a big role. She was chosen to play Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rose Tico is a mechanic who works for the Resistance. She joins the main character Finn on an adventure. This happens after her older sister, Paige Tico, makes a brave sacrifice.

When Tran went to England to film her scenes in 2016, she had to keep her role a secret. She told her family she was making an independent film in Canada. The Last Jedi was a very important movie for Tran. It made her the first Asian-American woman to have a major role in a Star Wars film. In 2017, she also became the first woman of Asian descent to be on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. She appeared on the cover with actors John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.

Recent Projects (2020–Present)

Kelly Marie Tran voiced the main character, Raya, in the Walt Disney Animation Studios movie Raya and the Last Dragon. This animated film came out in 2021. She also voiced Dawn in the film The Croods: A New Age, which was released in 2020.

Tran has also worked behind the scenes. She was an executive producer for the 2021 documentary Lily Topples the World. This film is about a young artist named Lily Hevesh who creates amazing domino displays. The documentary won a big award at the 2021 South by Southwest Film Festival.

Tran also helped produce the spoken-word poetry film Summertime. In 2022, Tran and director Carlos López Estrada started a new production company. It is called Antigravity Academy. Their goal is to create entertainment from and about people from groups that have not always been included. In 2023, Tran starred in two films. These were The Young Wife and Me, Myself & The Void.

Future Acting Roles

Kelly Marie Tran will star in a movie called Rock Springs. She is also working on a movie about civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen.

Dealing with Online Challenges

After Star Wars: The Last Jedi was released in 2017, Kelly Marie Tran faced some difficult times online. She received many negative comments on the internet. These comments were about her background and appearance. After several months, Tran decided to delete all her posts from Instagram. She changed her profile message to "Afraid, but doing it anyway." She also sought professional help.

Many people from the Last Jedi cast and crew supported her. They spoke out against the negative comments. Actors like John Boyega and Mark Hamill showed their support. Other famous people also stood up for Tran. Fans showed their support at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con. They dressed up as her character, Rose Tico. They also used social media hashtags like #ForceOutHate. At a Star Wars event in 2019, fans gave Tran a standing ovation. This made her very emotional.

In August 2018, Tran wrote an essay for The New York Times. It was titled "Kelly Marie Tran: I Won't Be Marginalized by Online Harassment." She wrote that the online attacks made her feel bad about herself. She said they made her believe the negative things people were saying. Tran ended her essay by saying, "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." Tran later said writing this essay was very hard. But it was also one of the moments she was most proud of in her career.

Filmography

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Selected Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
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
2023	The Young Wife	Tessa
	Once Upon a Studio	Raya	Short film; voice role
	Me, Myself & The Void	Mia
2025	The Wedding Banquet	Angela	Post-production
0TBA	Rock Springs		Post-production

Television Roles

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Kelly Marie Tran para niños