5 new reasons to love Star Wars’ Kelly Marie Tran
Since surfacing in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we’ve all been pretty obsessed with Kelly Marie Tran, and her latest GQ article has us even more enthralled!
Kelly Marie Tran is a relatively new starlet, but what a debut to make. Crashing into our lives as Rose Tico in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Kelly has been making quite the name for herself in Hollywood. So of course, everyone is a little bit obsessed with her right now.
Recently, Tran sat down with GQ to talk about her life post-Last Jedi and the interview gave us even more to love. We’re taking a look at five things that we learned about Kelly Marie Tran that make her even more of a hero to us.
She loves Rose as much as we do
In the interview, it was clear that whenever Rose was brought up, Kelly seemed to delight in talking about her. One of the most amazing moments was when she pointed out that there is a Rose in every movement. For those who don’t remember (or haven’t seen The Last Jedi), Rose delivered one of the most influential lines in the film.
“That’s how we’re gonna win…not fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.” In a pretty Star Wars-esque ending, Rose delivers the line that is meant to inspire the Resistance to continue on. It is poetic and powerful and, much like Tran points out, boundary-pushing for a woman of color (who became the unlikely hero of the film) to deliver it. However, it is Star Wars and that’s what has been so special about this series from the very beginning.
She’s fighting for stories she wants to see told
There seems to be a trend of women fighting for the roles they want to see. It is a wonderful change to the Hollywood landscape — and Kelly is joining the cause. Kelly’s is a little more interesting because it isn’t so much about a reflection onto herself as an actress but rather than she wants to concentrate on the messages these movies are portraying.
So often, we see actresses focused on boundary-pushing roles that seem to be a part of movies with lackluster storylines. With Kelly, it seems as if she wants to share a story first and foremost and that is an extremely admirable.
Redefining beauty stereotypes
In a moment that should have everyone near tears, Kelly shared what she used to want to see in movies. “I wanted to see 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 says and then goes on to talk about how we are seeing that more and more in movies now.
What’s amazing is that Kelly, who is genuinely a gorgeous person inside and out, hopes to redefine what we label as “beauty standards.” It is such an innocent goal but one that truly needs to be worked on. To hear her want to be a part of that is magnificent.
She has quite the catalog of women she looks up to
Much like us all, Kelly had quite the impressive list when asked who she looks up to. From Ava DuVernay to Tessa Thompson and more, Kelly basically has the Internet’s dream list of women to admire.
What’s great is that now, she’s one of those women for a lot of girls out there, not just for playing a hero, but for being willing to talk about her own goals as an actress in the public eye.
She wishes for the world to be more inclusive
The last question of the interview really hit home because Kelly said something really captivating. “I sometimes wish we didn’t have to talk about this,” she said in response to the importance of playing Rose as an Asian-American woman. She went on to talk about how she was proud of who she was but she wish that we lived in a world of inclusion, and it wasn’t rare for something like this to happen.
It is a beautiful sentiment and one that is, hopefully, where we are headed in the future.
Next: The Last Jedi's ridiculous amount of deleted scenes
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will arrive on Blu-Ray later this month, and for nothing else, watch it to get another look at Kelly’s work as Rose.