Kelly Marie Tran Comes Out as Queer: 'Never Truly Felt This Accepted Before'

Mar. 15, 2025

Kelly Marie Tran.Photo:Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock

Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock

Kelly Marie Tranhas come out as queer in a new interview.

The 35-year-oldStar WarsandRaya and the Last Dragonstar opened up about her identity in conversation withVanity Fairwhile discussing her forthcoming rom-comThe Wedding Banquet.

“I haven’t said this publicly yet, but I’m a queer person,” Tran said.

“The thing that really excited me about it was I got to play a person that I felt like I knew," the actress added of her new film, a remake ofAng Lee’s 1993 queer comedy of the same name. “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.”

Kelly Marie Tran attends SXSW in Austin, Texas, on March 12, 2023.Sean Mathis/Getty

Sean Mathis/Getty

Her character then plots a fake traditional Korean wedding ceremony with a male friend to raise funds for IVF as he secures a green card, perVanity Fair. The film also features performances fromBowen Yangand Han Gi-chan, with Joan Chen appearing as the mother of Tran’s character.

“I came out to my mom in a very specific experience,” Tran told the outlet. “The scenes that I have with Joan Chen in this movie are very similar to the experience that I had.”

Ahn, 38, toldVanity Fairthat, for the remake, he wanted to tell “a story that felt reflective of the community as I’ve experienced it growing up.”

“The spirit is the same, and I think it’s even more queer,” he said of the project.

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Kelly Marie Tran.Karwai Tang/WireImage

Tran haspreviously addressedonline harassment she faced after her work in theStar Warsfranchise — including 2017’sThe Last Jediand 2019’sThe Rise of Skywalker —after she became the first woman of color to lead aStar Warsfilm. Tran also notably starred as the first Southeast Asian Disney princess in 2021’sRaya and the Last Dragon.

In 2021, she said in aHollywood Reporterinterview that “if someone doesn’t understand meor 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,” she added at the time.

Tran’s role inThe Wedding Banquetfollows her performance in 2023’sThe Young Wife, as well as her work in Netflix’sSweet Tooth. PerVanity Fair,The Wedding Banquetis set to premiere in theaters in the spring.

source: people.com