Kelly Marie Tran was the subject of sexist and racist backlash online when she was cast in Star Wars, but now, she has emerged strong and confident. “I feel like a totally different human,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter.
Tran plays the titular warrior princess in Raya and the Last Dragon, says of the harassment and her decision to leave social media behind: “If someone doesn't understand me or my experience, it shouldn't be my place to have to internalize their misogyny or racism or all of the above. Maybe they just don't have the imagination to understand that there are different types of people living in the world.”
“I left. I said no to a lot of things,” she says. “It felt like I was just hearing the voice of my agents and my publicity team and all of these people telling me what to say and what to do and how to feel. And I realized, I didn't know how I felt anymore. And I didn't remember why I was in this in the first place.