Kelly Marie Tran reprises her role as Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker this month. Kelly made big headlines for her first Star Wars turn in The Last Jedi, unfortunately not for just being the delight that she is. In the role of Rose, Kelly became the first woman of color to have a main role in the Star Wars world. While that should have been reason to celebrate, the underbelly of the internet drove her off social media with their malicious attacks. Kelly responded to those who went for her in a 2018 NYT op-ed, something she recently admitted was one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do.
Kelly Marie Tran, who originated the role of Rose Tico in 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, is very aware that she’s the first woman of colour to have a leading role in the franchise and that, because of that, the job comes with some responsibility. People are identifying with her and looking up to her.
“I was aware pretty immediately, purely because of the reaction that we got from announcing the casting,” Tran revealed Monday when she visited the Build Series in New York, “and also I’m on an improv team of Asian American women, so we talk about these issues all of the time.”
Not to mention that internet trolls ran Tran off social media in June 2018, after she endured months of vitriolic comments. She still hasn’t returned and said she doesn’t miss it.
“It’s funny, because I realise that it was a big moment in culture,” Tran continued, “but for me, it’s not something that I use to define my identity by. I think there’s a tendency for, when someone experiences something like that, to feel like they’re defined by that, but I think I realised through that whole experience, I’m like, ‘Oh, no, I get to decide which narrative I’m playing in my mind. I get to decide who I am.’
Looking back, Tran noted the thought that went into the piece.
“I think when I wrote that op-ed, which is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, having it go out into the world made me feel so empowered. You know? Because I was finally speaking my truth.”
I can understand why that op-ed was so hard for Kelly to write, and not just that she chose to open herself up like that to the world that had just attacked her. In the op-ed, she said that “it wasn’t their words, it’s that I started to believe them.” She admitted she’d given their words power and that’s hard for any of us to admit. And just because a person can admit they let attacks get through doesn’t mean it won’t happen a second time. But it looks like it didn’t, it looks like Kelly embraced herself enough to rise above it all.
My favorite part of this article is Kelly’s comments about taking the power back, “Oh, no, I get to decide which narrative I’m playing in my mind. I get to decide who I am.” If I could impart that one lesson to my children, I will consider myself a successful parent. Heck, if I could teach myself that lesson, I’d be elated. It’s such a powerful comment because in Kelly’s case, she decided she was stronger than those who tried to tear her down. She refused to see herself as a victim. And now she’s walking proud, understanding what it means to so many young girls out there who look like her. And good for her for turning her back on social media. Those clowns don’t deserve her anyway.
Photo credit: WENN Photos
I felt so bad for her that she had to go through that, but she has obviously proven herself to be so much stronger than those that tried to tear her down. I loved her character of Rose, and thought she was a real standout. She was so sweet & optimistic, but also tough & didn’t take crap (which I guess made Kelly perfect for the part). I’m looking forward to seeing what becomes of Rose as the saga comes to an end.
It was disgusting. I feel like all of these pockets of toxic manboys on the internet, beginning with the gamergaters, really explain trump. Gamergate IMO foreshadowed the rise of trump. And as we continue to see, these toxic douchebags are many, and they aren’t going away. We have a real problem with misogyny in this country. And these same bros are of course racist, so anytime you can incite both their racism and their misogyny, just by existing, you are going to have a problem.
Wonder how long Lucas and Disney will ignore the white supremacists corner or Star Wars fandom…
Mark Hamill doesn’t and we are all the more blessed to have him
While I didn’t care much for the character, or the movie in general, I was happy to see a woman of color in SW and thought she did a fine job with what she was given…it was just a rather bad movie in the SW universe and that’s not her fault (I think Rian Johnson was the real problem). It’s awful what happened to her with TLJ. I LOVE her quote about narratives and will be putting that one on my fridge!
I’m gonna put the quote in my planner 👍
I personally didn’t like her character but that’s because I found Rose and Finn’s subplot and the whole casino planet thing useless and a waste of time. I was bored by that entire sequence and I didn’t think the acting was that great. I wanted to like her character so bad because she is the first POC to have a major role. But Rose fell flat for me. That being said she did NOT deserve the harassment she received and while I’m not surprised the Star Wars bros did that because they are toxic with anything they dislike, I really hope to see Kelly in other roles outside of Star Wars. The franchise is fun but it’s always been known for its terribly cheesy dialogue and ridiculous acting.
That storyline made the movie longer than it needed to be and was pointless
She is fantastic in Sorry for Your Loss!
She looks gorgeous in the baby blue dress.
The harassment she faced was ridiculous. It was extremely ugly and it truly felt at times as if she was out there on her own. This is why I just can’t with Daisy “I don’t have white privilege” Ridley. Kelly got crapped on for just existing in the SW universe. Her character was sweet, strong and loyal and instead of being lauded like so many other secondary characters, she’s vilified and Kelly is threatened and harassed. I wish for her to have success beyond SW. She deserves it.
That part!