Kelly Marie Tran had a breakout role that most dream of: She played Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Tran’s performance was big-hearted and real, and it made Rose, a maintenance worker who goes on to the be the world’s most unlikely hero, relatable. GQ writes that it is impossible not to root for her as she “more than holds her own” against John Boyega, who plays Finn. She essentially saves him at the end of the film, while also delivering the line that generated endless tweets and memes: “That’s how we’re gonna win…not fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.” Since The Last Jedi, the 29-year-old actor and writer has focused on the stories she has grown up wanting to see in the world. Her parents were refugees from Vietnam. Tran says they gave up their “whole lives” in order to live in a community where Tran and her sisters could attend good public schools. Tran says that she will in turn continue doing work she loves and fight for the projects she believes are necessary. She told GQ, “I’m chasing a lot of good stories right now, things that matter to me, that I want to have a real impact on society.” She says she is always working on something or developing something and her one true love is storytelling. When she was 12, she wanted to she women “who were happy, who loved themselves, who were comfortable in their own skin, who weren’t afraid to be who they were even if they weren’t quote-unquote ‘beautiful’ as defined by society.” She feels we are making progress, and hopes the projects she’s working on will continue to redefine what beauty is.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
