Kelly Marie Tran has confirmed she’s always willing to return as Rose Tico, her character inStar Wars: The Last JediandStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.Introduced inThe Last Jedias a potential love interest for John Boyega’s Finn, Kelly Marie Tran sadly found herself at the heart of the movie’s controversy. Rose Tico was sidelined inThe Rise of Skywalker, a creative decision from Lucasfilm that angered many given that it seemed to bow to the views of online trolls.
Speaking toCBR, Tran revealed she’s had conversations about a possibleStar Warsreturn. “I have so much love and gratitude for that universe and that world,” Tran explained. “[Wedding Banquet co-star] Lily [Gladstone]’s a big Star Wars fan as well. We’ve talked about it.” In response to further questioning, she confirmed that she would “absolutely” be willing to come back.
“Oh and I remain such [aStar Warsfan].It has such a warm place in my heart, just that whole universe, and that entire experience. And I don’t know the context to which things would have to fall into place for Rose to return, but I will say that I just love that world.”
She doubled down on the comments in an interview withVariety:
“I’ve been able to learn how to celebrate the parts of myself that, at the time, I was scared of, or I was made to feel like I had to be ashamed of. This past year, I did four movies, and they were all Asian stories with Asian writer-directors, and a few of those were also queer writer-directors. I remember looking back and thinking, ‘Wow! How crazy is it the thing that I was persecuted for, I now get to make art about?'”
Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico Deserves So Much More
Kelly Marie Tran sadly found herself targeted by the dark side of theStar Warsfandom afterThe Last Jedi, harassed online by trolls. “Their words seemed to confirm what growing up as a woman and a person of color already taught me: that I belonged in margins and spaces, valid only as a minor character in their lives and stories,” she reflected in an op-ed forThe New York Timesback in 2018. But Tran has seen phenomenal success since, beginning withRaya the Last Dragon.
As Tran toldVariety, people of color are often at “the forefront of storytelling… We live in a world where those identities have been weaponized so that people are not able to see the bigger picture,” Tran observed. “I really just want people to recognize, it’s the system that’s the problem. Stop scapegoating people of color or queer people or anyone who’s different.”
The character of Rose Tico - and, indeed, Tran herself - deserved so much better than to be sidelined inThe Rise of Skywalker.Tran has given conflicting responses over the years when asked whether she’d be willing to return; she was relatively positive back in 2020, describing conditions in which she could playRose Tico inStar Warsagain. According to Tran, it would require the right story at the right time.
Daisy Ridley’s New Stars Movies Offer An Opportunity
We know Daisy Ridley is set to return toStar Wars, although it’s unclear whether this will be in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s upcomingStar Warsmovie or other projects. Given that’s the case, Lucasfilm is clearly pushing on into the same time period where Rose Tico is alive, so it would be great to see more of the character. The fandom showed its worst side afterStar Wars: The Last Jedi, but we’ve recently seen that turn around in other cases - such as Ahmed Best’s - so this could well happen again.
