The Last Jedi: Kelly Marie Tran Talks to EW About Her Character Rose Tico
At Star Wars Celebration this past April, Rian Johnson told us that Rose Tico, Kelly Marie Tran’s character in The Last Jedi, has the largest part out of all of the new characters. Writer and journalist Anthony Breznican has brought us a bit closer to Rose in an Entertainment Weekly interview with Tran, where she discusses her character’s personality, beyond just being a background mechanic for the Resistance.
In the interview courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, newcomer Kelly Marie Tran gives us a look into the personality of Rose Tico, a mechanic with the Resistance. Unlike a lot of characters we’ve gotten to know in the Star Wars galaxy, Rose is a pragmatist, looking for the logical solution over incorporating emotion into her decision making. It seems she is more of a direct person who wants results instead of beating around the bush:
“Something that I really like about Rose, she’s sort of always on a mission. She is a very practical person, she’s very pragmatic.”
Here is the exclusive image posted by Breznican of Finn and Rose on their way to the ritzy high-rolling city of Canto Bight on Cantonica, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly:
“The journey that she and Finn go on seems pretty impossible, you can tell in this moment that she’s very much aware of the dangers that they are about to face, but she’s also logically in her mind problem-solving on the way.” – Tran
Breznican clarifies that “It’s not that Rose is joyless, she has a sense of humor and wonder. But she has also lived her entire life on the edge of survival in a war-torn galaxy.”
Tran continues:
“She knows exactly, probably, how many things can go wrong in a situation.”
This paring seems perfect in terms of classic opposites working together. In The Force Awakens we found out how mechanically deficient Finn was, needing BB-8 to help him find the correct parts to give to Rey while repairing the Falcon, and also needing to rescue a pilot to fly him away from the First Order. This is not to disparage sanitation workers, but Finn was trained to be a soldier and take out the trash, mechanics aren’t his strength.
WHAT’S WITH THE NECKLACE?
In the EW exclusive image above, Breznican points out that Rose is wearing a crescent-looking medallion on a necklace. He asked Tran about it’s significance:
“That is definitely something that is significant to Rose’s backstory,” Tran reveals. “It is an object that she kind of has throughout the film and it is representative of more than the object itself to her. So, yeah, that’s all I can say. It has significance that is, to me, something that means more than just what the object itself is.”
Significant to her backstory, and it means a lot to her. Star Wars is thematically about family, and familial history, roots, connections. Perhaps this symbol is representative of where Rose comes from, her family. As Tran states, it is clearly something that means more to her than it just being a necklace. As Breznican points out, “It’s not exactly something you’d put on while working around heavy machinery.”
We will get to meet and see the resourceful pragmatist at work very soon as Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters in a shockingly close 42 days!
Be sure to follow Anthony Breznican on Twitter, he is one of, if not the best Star Wars journalists out there.
You can find me on Twitter @JohnnyHoey and we’ll be talking about this on The Resistance Broadcast!
“For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.”
John Hoey is the Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net and the host of The Resistance Broadcast podcast
"For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8b4428edb12d214f6edcfcda4745db570f3620a10b91d9075d6f59255412f44d.gif
People that come in to comment they don’t care actually totally care.
Shit you totally got me! I act like I don’t care in hopes of deterring others from buying her action figure. Don’t know what I would due if I couldn’t complete my Star Wars token character collection.
So she’s a token just because she’s Asian? Would her being white magically transform her into a worthwhile character?
I’m not quite interested in her character, and I’ve no problem with her being asian, but I just think this particular actress is rather ‘vanilla’.
I’ll reserve judgement until we actually see her performance.
Fair enough, but I’m not talking about her acting skills, but rather her “aura”, or “charisma”.
Zero charisma. None. Makes Phasma look entertaining.
And you’ve seen what footage of her, exactly?
We will re-convene on this topic after Dec 15.
Oh, I forgot. You have the amazing ability to judge films and acting performances before seeing any of them. How silly of me.
You’ll see.
Please Kent, care to give us a little lesson on charisma? You seem to have so much, maybe you could teach us a thing or two.
I’m not an actor in the film so my charisma, or lack-thereof, is of no consequence to the SW franchise.
You haven’t seen the film. You know absolutely zero about her performance, and next to nothing about the character she plays in the film or the story that unfolds.
That’s just silly. If she was white, how would she appeal to the Asian market?
How do you know she’s just there to appeal to the Asian market? Kelly Marie Tran is an American actor. Plus, she’s an unknown, and it looks like she’s actually going to have a sizable role in the movie, and yet you assume her to be a token simply because she’s Asian?. I don’t throw the word “racist” around a lot, but you seem to fit the description, honestly.
People who call a character a “token” because they are female or non-white are, obvious to everyone, either sexist, racist, or both. Which one are you?
But you didn’t give me all the options. What about homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic and you can’t forget misogynistic. Come on get it right.
That’s true, in that folks like me do care deeply about this Film.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/33f6fff2bae53b3f4a5859fb88312549975bc6a5c98f639609f0b8fffcbc0800.jpg
It’s a missed opportunity if they don’t get Marissa Tomei to play Rose’s mentor in a future film.
Man I’ve loved the idea behind her character from the start. I don’t know why some folks had such an adverse reaction. People really do look for things to hate anymore. To me all I saw was an interesting character dynamic being added to the movie. At least wait until the movie is out to judge her.
I agree. I like the idea of the character. Not specially excited though. I’m just in a “wait and see” mindset and hoping she will be a new character to discover, appreciate and learn to love.
I wonder if it’s Friend Zone Finn in TLJ also.
ZOMG now I care SO MUCH about Rose!!! Uh not.
What if Rose is a jedi, and the daughter of Luke Skywalker and his Asian wife/mistress? And the whole point of Rey was to bring the lightsaber back to Luke, so he could pass it on to his daughter? Would you care about her then?
i would care less because it would defeat the purpose of her character.
Kent, seriously, why do you even post here? Almost every single post you make is negative. And not only that, but your posts are ignorantly negative. You have not seen this movie. You have absolutely no idea whether it will be good or bad. You have absolutely no idea whether you will like Rose as a character or not. To the rest of us on this site your behaviour comes across as negative, obnoxious, repetitive, and predictable. Why are you here? Why are you posting here? Really? You’re not adding value.
I have had a lot positive to say, especially during the lead up to TFA. I am developing some pre-resentment toward TLJ, yes that’s true, out of worry for Luke Skywalker. Keep in mind, I actually love more characters than I dislike. *
***Characters I love: LUKE, Leia, Han, Chewie, Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo, Hux, and Snoke.
***Characters I DGAF about: Phasma and Rose. They represent to me pure boredom and they take away valuable-screentime that could be used on characters who actually matter.
I don’t like Rose and from “intel” I’ve heard in other circles, she will definitely prove to be a waste of character-space.
There has been next to no reliable information leaked about Rose. You don’t know anything about her.
Actually I do. And the intel I’ve gotten is that she is just “Finn’s buddy”, dialogue that goes no where, and of little to no consequence to the more important aspects of the film. We only have 2 hours 30 minutes, and I would rather that screentime be devoted to characters that (1) Matter and (2) Are entertaining.
She will make a helluva action-figure tho right?
All right buddy, I’ll check back in with you after December 15th when we’ve all made up our mind about Rose with the actual movie as evidence.
“I would rather that screentime be devoted to characters that (1) Vader and (2) Are butter flavored.”
FTFY.
come on kent, that’s CLEARLY doctor grant’s raptor claw, not a moon.
Well she’s got your hairdo.
What a great contribution to the discussion.
Hey dude you forgetting the new golden ratio of Star Wars. For every boy there has to be a girl. Stop being transsexistracistphobic.
You clicked and read the article and then decided to voice snark into the fandom because…….well, I’ll silently judge.
http://www.wanderlyn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mad-Men-Judging-You.gif
wow, this thread really deteriorated quickly. i thought i had accidentally logged on to twitter for a moment.
I’d bet that the necklace was from her sister who is likely killed during the first order attack on the rebel base.
Massive hype for a character that will have next to no real screentime, or have any real impact. reminds me of the Captain Phasma let down in TFA.
She will be with Finn for half the movie. She will have far more screentime than Phasma in TFA. Also she’s interesting, not just live merchandising.
I expect Rose to have more screentime in TLJ than Phasma had in TFA.
The hype hasn’t been massive for her at all, your casual fan or movie goer would barely know who she is. I suspect she will have much more screen time than Phasma – we’ll find out in six weeks!
Nothing you say is remotely based on anything factual.
Where is this massive Rose Tico hype you speak of?
To fill a quota you don’t have to serve a purpose.
Oh no, white people aren’t the only actors cast in movies anymore. Let’s all pretend that the only reason they exist in the white-entitled world of movies is because of a political agenda being pushed, because our ignorant views prevent us from conceiving of how they can possibly be a purposeful addition to a movie. And let’s make a complete predetermination of this despite having seen absolutely nothing of the character in question’s performance in the film.
Sounds good to me.
So you’re a proud ignoramus. OK.
If you have been following at all they haven’t been casting on race, but merit. That is something we should all be happy about.
To you have any evidence of a “quota” or did you just buy a new tin foil hat?
Are you sure you aren’t mistaking the “hype” for this character for Rose from Titanic? #neverletgofinn
I’m praying for no screentime.
“Big Deal” needs a “Little Deal” to play off of in this film. If you have the slightest bit of a sense of humor, I’m guessing that these two will satisfy.
50 odd years since uhura and some people still think anyone not white of female, or worse both ,in a film is controversial …….. that is truly sad.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing Rose. Yeah, her storyline probably won’t be as big or impactful as the rest of the characters. But I do like the premise of her: an ordinary technician for the Resistance roped into adventure.
I mean if you think about it, that is really what SWs is: A bunch of people who see themselves as ordinary(but have extraordinary skills) and go on a D&D style adventure. And really, if RJ is going with the thematic aspect that anyone, big or small; can make a difference, then count me in with her.
Plus, I’m hoping her presence will add a lot to Finn. Because, to be honest; much as I love John Boyega; I just couldn’t get into Finn. He was too much comedic relief and that really squandered his potential as a former Stormtrooper.
Heck, his backstory in Before the Awakening was more badass. If anything, I hope that these two side mission together will do a lot for Finn. Beyond, just him getting a rematch with Phasma. But hey, just my view. I’m sure a SWs fans won’t want ignite their lightsabers and try to skewer me. 🙂