As she gears up for her return to the big screen, Kelly Marie Tran is taking time to clarify an aspect of her identity for the first time publicly.
Tran, best known for her portrayal of Rose Tico in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, told Vanity Fair in an interview published Friday that she is queer.
“I haven’t said this publicly yet, but I’m a queer person,” she told the outlet.
Tran’s revelation was particularly fitting given her role in the forthcoming remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 romantic comedy, “The Wedding Banquet.” She portrays Angela, a Seattle woman who is eager to start a family with her girlfriend, Lee (Lily Gladstone).
Together, the two women hatch a plan with a gay couple, Chris (Bowen Yang) and Min (Han Gi-chan). Angela will marry Min so that she can save money for in vitro fertilization treatments and he, in turn, can secure a green card to remain in the U.S. Naturally, hijinks ensue.
In her Vanity Fair chat, Tran said the new “Wedding Banquet” reflects much of her lived experience.
Jeff Kravitz via Getty Images
“The thing that really excited me about it was I got to play a person that I felt like I knew,” she explained. “I don’t feel like I’m acting at all in this movie…. I’m here doing this amazing movie with these amazing people. I’ve never been in a queer space before. I’ve never truly felt this accepted before.”
Directed by Andrew Ahn, “The Wedding Banquet” flips the script on the traditional coming-out story. Instead of rejecting a child for being LGBTQ+, Angela’s mother (Joan Chen) has to come to terms with her daughter’s seemingly abrupt decision to marry a man.
And though she’s tight-lipped on the details, Tran said that in real life, “I came out to my mom in a very specific experience.”
While “The Wedding Banquet” may mark Tran’s first time starring as an out queer character on the silver screen, the actor has long championed LGBTQ+ representation in Hollywood.
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When asked to comment on the theory that her character in the Disney animated feature “Raya and the Last Dragon” was meant to be seen as queer, she didn’t dodge the question like some actors in family-friendly fare might have.
“I think if you’re a person watching this movie and you see representation in a way that feels really real and authentic to you, then it is real and authentic,” she told Vanity Fair in 2021. “I think it might get me in trouble for saying that, but whatever.”
“The Wedding Banquet” is currently slated for a 2025 release.
Read more on Tran at Vanity Fair.