Kelly Marie Tran

Despite the critical and commercial success of The Last Jedi, Tran received online attacks, many racist, from people who disliked the character of Rose Tico. In response, several prominent figures in entertainment spoke out publicly against Tran's attackers, including The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, and co-stars John Boyega and Mark Hamill. Employment discrimination 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. In June 2018, more than 6 months after the film's release, Tran deleted all of her posts on Instagram after months of harassment.

In August 2018, after a prolonged stretch of silence about her harassment, Tran published a first person account in the New York Times addressing the issue. Tran stated that she had become self-conscious and for a time believed what her harassers were saying.

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. 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 main 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 actor John Boyega (who played Finn), and Oscar Isaac (who played X-Wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron).

In 2013, she starred in the web-series Ladies Like Us. In 2015, Tran was working as an assistant at a creative recruiting firm in Century City.

Her early credits consisted of primarily CollegeHumor videos and small TV roles. She landed a commercial agent in 2011, who got Tran to take improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade. At The Second City, Tran is part of the all-female, Asian-American improv group, Number One Son.

Kelly Marie Tran (born Trần Loan; January 17, 1989) is an American actress. She began acting in 2011, with most of her roles being in short film and television. She came to global prominence for her role as Rose Tico in the 2017 film Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the 2019 film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Tran was born on January 17, 1989 in San Diego, California. Her parents were refugees 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 Tran's mother worked at a funeral home.