Kelly Marie Tran: 13 Things About The First Asian Female Lead In #StarWars

In 2015, Kelly Marie Tran’s life changed when she got cast in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”. Before that she had been trying her luck around the L.A. audition circuit while working as an office assistant.

Since everything involving the “Star Wars” franchise is kept top secret, the 28-year-old actress had to come up with some convincing lies. “After I got the role, I had to work for another week! Then I told my job, my family, and my friends I was moving to Canada for an indie. I had to Google pictures of Canada to send them! It was so stressful,” Tran said.

Since Tran is relatively unknown to moviegoers, we thought it’ll be fun to dig up some fun facts about the actress, who just hit her big break in Hollywood. There is no doubt that she is getting ready to conquer galaxies both near and far, far away.

1. Her parents are Vietnamese immigrants. According to Elle, her mum worked at a funeral home while her father perviously had a job at Burger King.

2. Tran had to endure a 5-month casting process before getting the golden ticket.

3. She also became the first Asian-American woman to secure a major lead role in the testosterone-fuelled “Star Wars” movie franchise.

4. She plays Rose Tico, a Starfighter mechanic in the Resistance and also one of Finn’s biggest allies in his fight against the First Order.

5. What can we expect from Rose Tico, you ask? Rose “may not be glorified in the Resistance the way Rey,” Tran shared, “but has an important story to tell. She can and will make a difference.”

6. The actress is a Throney. In speaking about the “Game of Thrones” season finale, she’s most excited (and nervous) for Daenerys to see Viserion. (“That’s such a Kylo situation, right? Seeing your child who’s on the other side now? I’m serious”)

7. No way! She’s also a Potterhead. Tran recalls that she used to dressed as Cho Chang to midnight “Harry Potter” screenings. Although the Pottermore Sorting Hat dubbed her as a Ravenclaw, given the choice, she would pick Gryffindor.

8. Before her audition, Tran had not watched any “Star Wars” film. “In 10th grade, my teacher was obsessed with (Star Wars) and played it in the background, but I was reading Harry Potter so I wasn’t listening to it,” she added. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

9. During production, Tran shared a trainer with Daisy Ridley.

10. Tran shared the most onscreen time with John Boyega in “The Last Jedi”. “John is someone who I feel like I immediately was able to mesh with. We connect on different levels because our parents are immigrants, we’re both people of colour, nerds, and he’s just hilarious,” she told Buzzfeed.

11. As soon as filming wrapped, Tran ran away. She “spent a year traveling and a year trying to figure myself out and reminding myself why I got into this”.

12. The newcomer travelled to South Africa and got involved in an endangered wildlife reserve. She later went to back to her home country in Vietnam to revisit her roots for the first time in 2 decades.

Beautiful moment at #TheLastJedi premiere! Breakout star Kelly Marie Tran thanks producer Ram Bergman for this opportunity pic.twitter.com/vCw7ottrPN
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 10, 2017

I feel strange posting a private moment, like this. But this level of emotion, met with this level of support, is @StarWars encapsulated. pic.twitter.com/lYd1bCcr1V
— janina gavankar (@Janina) December 10, 2017