Kelly Marie Tran

Kelly Marie Tran, born Loan Tran on January 17, 1989, in San Diego, California, is an American actress whose parents were refugees from Vietnam. Her early life included working at a yogurt shop to fund headshots and attending Westview High School before graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Bachelor of Arts in communications. Her career began in 2011 with appearances in CollegeHumor videos and small television roles, demonstrating her comedic abilities and improvisational skills honed at institutions like the Upright Citizens Brigade and The Second City, where she is part of the all-female, Asian-American improv group Number One Son.

Tran achieved global recognition when she was cast as Rose Tico in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, appearing in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017) and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (2019). This made her the first Asian-American woman to hold a major role in a “Star Wars” film and the first woman of Asian descent to be featured on the cover of “Vanity Fair.” Beyond “Star Wars,” Tran has made significant contributions to animated film, voicing Raya in Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” (2021) and Dawn Betterman in DreamWorks Animation’s “The Croods: A New Age” (2020).

Her career further diversified with roles in podcast series like Radiotopia’s “Passenger List” (2019-2021) and the Facebook Watch series “Sorry for Your Loss” (2018-2019). Tran has also taken on executive producer roles for projects such as the documentary “Lily Topples the World” (2021) and the spoken-word poetry film “Summertime” (2020). Upcoming projects include starring in “Rock Springs” and developing a biopic about civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, indicating a continued engagement in diverse and impactful storytelling.