Thuy Trang

In September 2016, some fans were offended by marketing posters for the new Power Rangers film, which they considered disrespectful to Trang's memory. The promo showed an image of the Yellow Ranger (now played by singer Becky G) standing on her Zord, along with the text "Driver's Ed not required." Several fans responded on the social media platforms Facebook and Twitter that the message was offensive because Trang died in a car accident, with several users replying with the hashtag "#JusticeforThuy". The Twitter account official Power Rangers franchise removed the posts in response to the criticism, although international distributor eOne Films, which had also released the same tweets, did not remove them.

The role was originated by actress Audri Dubois in the pilot episode before Trang took over the part. After securing the role, Trang moved from Fountain Valley to Los Angeles to be closer to the set of the show, which she found to be a major adjustment. Trang described her character as having "quick hands and a peaceful soul", and felt the character was inspiring for viewers who have long desired an Asian superhero: "Asians are not portrayed in the media very well, and there are not many roles for Asian people except for the stereotypes – gangsters, hookers, things like that. A lot of older Asian people come up to me and say that I'm doing a service to the Asian community."

On September 3, 2001, Trang was traveling with her friend, the actress and model Angela Rockwood, for whom Trang was to be a bridesmaid in her upcoming marriage to Dustin Nguyen. They were passengers in a car traveling on Interstate 5 in California Interstate 5 between San Jose and Los Angeles, driving back late at night after having visited Rockwood's maid of honor in San Jose. The driver, another bridesmaid named Steffiana De La Cruz, struck some loose gravel in a groove along the side of the street, and lost control of the vehicle. The car swerved violently across the road before hitting the roadside rock face, flipping several times before hitting the safety rail and plunging over the bank and into a second rock face. Rockwood was thrown 35 feet out of the car and survived, but severed her spinal cord and was paralyzed from the neck down. The driver also survived the accident. Trang suffered internal injuries, and after a paramedic placed a tracheal tube down her throat, blood began gushing out due to internal bleeding. A helicopter arrived to take her to the hospital, but she died before arriving there.

Trini Kwan was included as a cameo in an early draft of Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997), but Kwan's scene was cut from the final film. Trang had planned to appear in several films in the mid-1990s along with her Power Rangers co-stars St. John and Jones, including Cyberstrike, Act of Courage, and Children of Merlin, the latter of which was to be developed by Landmark Entertainment Group. None of the three films were ultimately made. Additionally, Trang was expected to appear in a film called The Adventures of Tracie Z, which also never came to fruition.

Trang left Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the middle of the second season, along with fellow cast members Austin St. John and Walter Emanuel Jones, due to contractual and payment disputes. She had a brief appearance in the film Spy Hard (1996), and played one of the lead villains in the film The Crow: City of Angels (1996). Trang had planned to appear in several films along with St. John and Jones, but none were ultimately made. Trang died in a car accident at age 27.

Trang's first film role was a manicurist in the 1996 movie Spy Hard. Trang was mistakenly credited as playing a masseuse in the film; her screen credit was accidentally switched with Tara Leon, who played a masseuse in the same short scene but was credited as a manicurist. Trang later played a lead villain, Kali, in the feature film The Crow: City of Angels, also released in 1996. She was not cast until very late in the pre-production process, right before filming began. Trang played Kali, a member of a gang led by notorious drug kingpin Judah Earl, who killed the protagonist, mechanic Ashe Corven, and his eight-year-old son after they witnessed Judah's henchmen murdering a fellow drug dealer. Trang's character was killed by a resurrected Corven after a fight scene. Dougal Macdonald, a writer with The Canberra Times who was otherwise critical of the film, described Trang as "deliciously evil". Other reviewers were more negative about Trang's performance: The Advocate writer John Wirt called her "a flop", and Jon Bowman of The Santa Fe New Mexican said her "sneer is her most pronounced feature".

On January 4, 1995, Trang and her Power Rangers co-stars St. John and Jones hosted an informational session about martial arts at the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C., where they taught basic techniques to Newt Gingrich and other members of the United States House of Representatives from the 104th United States Congress. Trang and St. John were interviewed on The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts, a 1995 documentary that explored the history of Asian martial arts and the role they have played in the Hollywood film industry. Trang made cameo appearances in martial arts videos made by St. John and Jones. Trang, St. John, and Jones also planned to unite for a live touring stage and arena show. She made a guest appearance at the Little Saigon Tet Festival, an event honoring Vietnamese culture, in Westminster, California, on February 4, 1995. During the festival, she spoke about her time on Power Rangers, other aspects of her career, and her experiences trying to break into film and television as an Asian-American actress.

Trang appeared in 80 episodes in the series, which included the entire first season and a portion of the second season. Trang performed many of her own stunts. She jogged and exercised regularly during her time on the show to stay in shape, and received training from martial arts experts on the set, including Jason David Frank. New to the acting profession, Trang said she learned a great deal during her time on the show: "I'm finding that acting is all about being honest and truthful in every moment. The camera is so close that it sees everything, so if you're truthful and honest, the audience will know." She believed the show conveyed positive messages to children, particularly about teamwork and having self-confidence. Trang became close friends with co-star Amy Jo Johnson, and the two would often have slumber parties at each other's houses. They were together when the 1994 Northridge earthquake struck, which badly frightened both women, but they were forced to go to the studio for filming that day anyway; no scenes were ultimately shot because the crew did not arrive. Trang repeatedly got hurt on the set of the show, and often had to be physically carried by others during shooting because of injuries. Jason David Frank said of her injuries: "She put her all into the scenes, so sometimes things happen."

Trang's first acting experience was appearing in a television commercial for the Church of Scientology commercial, even though she herself was a Buddhist. She earned her first major role in 1993 as Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger in the original cast of the TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Her agent arranged for her to participate in an audition process that included about 500 actresses of various races. Casting director Katy Wallin said the day of Trang's screen test, "Thuy was so nervous that she almost couldn't complete her final callback." She was paired with Jason David Frank, the martial arts instructor and actor who went on to portray the Green Ranger Tommy Oliver, during the audition. It took place before a room of about 20 executives and required each actor to read the part and present their physical skills. Wallin told Trang to run into the room screaming, jump onto the audition table, and perform a karate move. Trang did so, then quietly stepped off the table, did her reading, and walked out of the room. Wallin said of her screen test: "I loved her and was very proud of her fearless approach to becoming the Yellow Ranger." The pool of finalists for the part was narrowed down to 10 actresses, then five, then three, before Trang was finally selected.

Trang's father died in 1992, when she was 18. She graduated from Banning High School in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles, and enrolled at the University of California, Irvine to study civil engineering. Trang's hobbies included playing tennis, jogging, and reading romance novels. She also had a dog named Nia. Trang planned to pursue a career in engineering, but switched her focus to acting after a film agent observed her during an UCI introductory acting class in 1992 and offered to represent her. Trang, the first person in her family to study acting, said she intended to later finish her education despite undertaking an acting career.

In 1979, when Trang was six years old, she and her family secretly boarded a cargo ship bound for Hong Kong. It was a very difficult journey, with people packed tightly due to limited space, lacking in food and water. The trip lasted about eight or nine months, and at least four people died. Trang went long periods of time without eating and fell ill, with her mother having to force food down her throat while she was unconscious to keep her alive. At one point, the other passengers wrongly believed Trang to be dead and wanted to throw her body overboard to make more room for the other refugees, but her mother prevented them from doing so. Trang's family and her father were eventually reunited in the United States in 1980, and settled in the city of Fountain Valley, California.

Trang's father was a South Vietnamese army officer who fled the country in 1975 after the fall of Saigon, leaving his family behind. When Trang was six, she and her mother and brothers boarded a cargo ship bound for Hong Kong, a difficult journey during which Trang became very ill. They reunited with Trang's father in the United States in 1980 and settled in California. She enrolled at the University of California, Irvine to study civil engineering, but switched her focus to acting after a film agent observed her during an introductory acting class and offered to represent her.

Thuy Trang (Vietnamese: Thùy Trang [tʰʷɪj˨˩ ʈaːŋ˧] ; December 14, 1973 – September 3, 2001) was a Vietnamese American actress. She was best known for her role as Trini Kwan, the first Yellow Ranger on the original cast of the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Thuy Trang was born in Saigon, South Vietnam (now part of Ho Chi Minh City, Socialist Republic of Vietnam) on December 14, 1973, to her father, Ky, and her mother, Be. She had two brothers and one sister. Her father, a South Vietnamese army (ARVN) officer, was tasked with protecting Saigon from communist North Vietnamese army. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, he was forced to leave his family behind and fled the country, immigrating to United States. Trang and her family lived in a detention camp as her father petitioned the U.S. government for political asylum for his family. They fled Saigon when Trang was two.

During one scene in the Power Rangers film, the Trini Kwan character wears a T-shirt with "1973" on it, the year of Trang's birth, as an homage to the original actress. Austin St. John, Trang's co-star from the original series, said of the new film: "One of the hardest roles for me to accept was Trini's role because Thuy is gone now. It would be tough for me to see anybody in that role."