Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s Kelly Marie Tran talks about her inspirations and meeting C-3PO
Asian American actress, who plays Rose Tico in the film, worried she would never land a decent role, but thoughts of her parents’ struggles kept her going to auditions, and it paid off when she landed the part in the blockbuster
Before she joined the Star Wars universe, Kelly Marie Tran nearly lost all hope she’d ever make it as an actress.
Tran – who plays newcomer Rose Tico in the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi – had been stuck in a full-time office job a few years ago and was regularly attending casting auditions that came to nothing.
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But any time she thought of quitting, she used her parents’ struggles as an inspiration.
“My parents are refugees from Vietnam, and they spent their whole lives working towards a reality where my sisters and I would have choice,” says Tran, 28. “That was it. My parents never had the luxury of having a dream.
“I remember thinking I was living for multiple generations, and if I wasn’t pursuing something that made me happy, if I wasn’t really living to my fullest, then I wouldn’t be doing them justice.”
Her persistence paid off in an astronomical way in 2015, when Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson cast her as Rose, following a five-month audition process.
