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I was working a full-time job but not having anything in my savings account at the end of the month because of my bills and because acting in the beginning costs money.
Kelly Marie Tran -
So much of me is because of what my parents experienced in this country. So much of me is because of the things my parents overcame so that I could have the luxury of having a dream.
Kelly Marie Tran
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I want to work with amazing filmmakers and tell important stories, and if I have to audition to do that, I will.
Kelly Marie Tran -
I actually read 'The Last Jedi' before 'The Force Awakens' came out. It totally helped me, though! The idea of this franchise that I already knew was such a big cultural thing, I was sort of given this freedom to be honest with that character and not have this pressure of making her something else that we had already seen in this universe.
Kelly Marie Tran -
When you're really young, you tend to fall in love with characters. If you start seeing the same type of character everywhere and realize that they don't look like you, or they don't speak like you, you start wanting to change who you are. That's something that I did when I was a young kid.
Kelly Marie Tran -
I want to work with great directors and tell great stories - storytelling is the one great love of my life, and it means so much, and we have the ability to change the world by telling stories, and I want to keep doing that.
Kelly Marie Tran -
I was not on social media for a really long time because I was afraid of being seen.
Kelly Marie Tran -
In terms of the timeline, 'The Force Awakens' came out in December of 2015. I got the role in November of 2015. I was auditioning and waiting to hear back when their marketing machine was everywhere. It's like you're going for something that's so high stakes, and you try to remind yourself, 'Okay, stop thinking about it,' and it's everywhere.
Kelly Marie Tran
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You search for images and stories and movies and music from people that look like you and sound like you and speak like you because you want to feel like, 'Oh, if they can do it, so can I.' There's a little bit of that need for validation, especially when you're younger and trying to look to someone to look up to.
Kelly Marie Tran -
I think that Carrie is such an icon, not just as someone who played Princess Leia, but someone who was groundbreaking in that she was OK with being honest - brutally so, unapologetically so.
Kelly Marie Tran -
I was a food tour guide - I took people on a tour to different restaurants in the area.
Kelly Marie Tran -
I do feel like my improv training has helped me throughout my entire audition process only because the idea of 'yes and-ing' applies to everything.
Kelly Marie Tran -
If I am just, like, on a run by myself, I've never been stopped. Even if I'm at Target buying my own action figure, people would not believe that it's me. I actually was like, 'This is me!'
Kelly Marie Tran -
I didn't know there was this sort of immediate camaraderie that's very intense when you make a movie because you're all in this together. You tend to get really close to people really fast.
Kelly Marie Tran
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Growing up, I've always felt I was from two different worlds. I was born in the U.S., but my parents were born in Vietnam, and they raised my sisters and I with the parenting methods of the Vietnamese culture.
Kelly Marie Tran -
I still just sort of live my life the way that I was before. I don't know when I will feel that it's different.
Kelly Marie Tran -
When I'm driving past the place I used to work, or when I'm driving past the comedy studio where I used to take photos in exchange for classes, or when I'm driving past the yoga studio I used to clean on the weekends - it's not that far removed from me yet. I get very sentimental over things like that.
Kelly Marie Tran -
I believe if you can have an open dialogue about anything, whether it's a book or a movie or TV show, it's this door that suddenly opens your mind to new ideas.
Kelly Marie Tran -
So many people don't realise you need to be on a certain level of Maslow's hierarchy to have a dream: you have to have food and be safe from danger, all these things my parents didn't have at the get go, so I, from the very beginning, believe I have been living for multiple generations, for my parents and grandparents.
Kelly Marie Tran -
'Star Wars' is so much bigger than any single person involved, so you feel like you want to do that justice and also feel like you want to do justice to that little girl inside me that never saw anyone who looked like her, that person who's starving for representation - it's a lot.
Kelly Marie Tran
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I wish that all different types of people of all races and all upbringings were all equally represented in this industry that influences so many people.
Kelly Marie Tran -
My parents are refugees from Vietnam, so they didn't grow up with 'Star Wars.' I don't think they know what's going on in the movie at any given time.
Kelly Marie Tran -
I never want to forget that I'm doing an impossible thing. How rare is it that you get to be part of something people love? It's really special. It's a very out-of-body experience to be a part of something so huge.
Kelly Marie Tran -
Even if someone doesn't like it, or just likes it for me, storytelling has been the one true love story of my entire life.
Kelly Marie Tran