Vietnamese American actress Kelly Marie Tran rose to fame as Rose Tico in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and as the voice of Disney's first Southeast Asian princess in Raya and the Last Dragon. This year, she focused more on independent films, with movies premiering at Sundance, including Andrew Ahn's The Wedding Banquet and Forge at SXSW.
In Ahn's update of Ang Lee's classic rom-com, she played half of a lesbian couple opposite Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone. After filming the role, she also publicly came out as queer, saying that the set of the movie was the first queer space she's been in, and she felt like she wasn't “acting at all” while playing her character.
“The greatest gift you can give yourself is to explore yourself fully, grow continuously, and love what you discover,” she says.
Next, she's moving into the horror genre, starring with Benedict Wong and Jimmy O. Yang in Vera Miao's Rock Springs. @kellymarietran
