Thoughts of A Sleep Deprived Mind

Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters this month, and actress Kelly Marie Tran’s life will be turned upside down overnight. When the spotlight comes, though, she’ll be ready – with her travel bags packed if she needs an escape. 

— Marie Claire, Dec 2017

AGE 28. 

LIVES IN Los Angeles. 

YOU KNOW HER FROM The Star Wars hype machine. Tran is making her feature-length film debut in The Last Jedi as Rose, a maintenance worker in the Resistance. (Spoiler: She does more than just fix stuff.) 

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR DOWNTIME? Travel. After we finished filming The Last Jedi, I completely fell off the face of the planet. I just wasn’t ready to be in Hollywood. I wanted to go away and remember who I am. Most recently, I went to South Africa for two months and volunteered with endangered animals. I also went to Vietnam for a month and volunteered with orphans, and then flew my parents out. They’re from Vietnam and hadn’t been back in 40 years. I think we met, in total, 13 aunts and uncles, plus cousins. It was really cool to be there for that and have them show me what my life could have been like—with the added filter of “I’m in a Star Wars movie now.” 

PRE-CELEBRITY PERKS? I go to LA Fitness or Trader Joe’s, and nobody knows who I am. I still have this Hannah Montana life. It’s kind of beautiful. 

REAL TALK? Traveling taught me that all these things I thought I had to be are just social constructs that we buy into. I’m sure a lot of stars have that weird fear, where they’re like, Can I go out in sweats? Check with me later, but I’m still trying to go out in sweats, even after this movie comes out. 

FOLLOW HER I don’t do social media—even before Star Wars, I didn’t have Facebook!