Kelly Marie Tran

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Kelly Marie Tran (born January 17, 1989) is an American actress. She has had roles in short films and television episodes, and came to wider attention for her role as Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the eighth episodic film in the Star Wars series.

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Early life and education

Tran was born on January 17, 1989 in San Diego, California. Her parents are refugee migrants from Vietnam who fled the country following the Vietnam War. As a child, her father was homeless and grew up on the streets of Vietnam. After moving to the United States, he worked at Burger King to support the family, and his wife worked at a funeral home.

Tran attended Westview High School in San Diego and worked at a yogurt shop, Golden Spoon, in Rancho Penasquitos to earn money for head shots. Tran then graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a B.A. in Communications.

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Career

Tran spent her early years in Los Angeles auditioning for small parts and doing improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade and The Second City. In 2013, she starred in the web series Ladies Like Us. She also appeared in various CollegeHumor videos.

In 2015, Tran was cast as Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rose Tico is a rebel mechanic who joins up with main character Finn after the sacrifice of her oldest sister, Paige Tico (Veronica Ngo), a gunner trained by Resistance commander Poe Dameron. She was unable to tell her family that she had won the role. When she went to film her scenes at Pinewood Studios in early 2016, she said she was filming a small movie in Canada. With her role in The Last Jedi, Tran became the first Asian-American woman to play a leading role in a Star Wars film. In 2017, she also became the first Asian woman to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair when she appeared on the cover of the summer 2017 issue with John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.

Despite the critical and box office success of The Last Jedi, Tran received racially charged online attacks from people who disliked the character of Rose Tico. In addition, right-wing vlogger Paul Ray Ramsey posted a tweet attacking Tran's appearance. In response to racially tinged fan criticism, attorney Anthony Nguyen praised Tran for being "the first woman of color to be cast in a leading role in the Star Wars franchise". Condemning the racist attacks, Nguyen remarked that "people of color, especially Asian-Americans, are grossly underrepresented in TV and film." In addition, freelance writer and journalist Nicole Karlis opined that attacks on Tran's race and appearance reflected a fear of women who broke sexist stereotypes.