What we know about Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) from Star Wars: The Last Jedi
By Elaine Tveit
Here’s what we know so far about Rose Tico, a new character in Star Wars: The Last Jedi played by Asian American actress Kelly Marie Tran.
Star Wars fans, meet Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico. We don’t know much about this new character, but the little we have learned so far left us hungry for more. So let’s start with the facts straight from the mouth of Lucasfilm.
As revealed at The Last Jedi panel at Star Wars Celebration Orlando, Rose is a maintenance worker for the Resistance. She also has a significant amount of screen time. I take that to mean she will either be a main character on the level of Finn and appear in the majority of the film; or, she will be more of a secondary main character like Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and only have screen-time in the film’s latter half.
Image credit: Vanity Fair (Photo by Annie Leibovitz, cropped by Elaine Tveit)
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Now, we’re going to dig into casting rumors for some hints at Rose’s role in The Last Jedi. According to a report from The Wrap in 2016, Lucasfilm tested different actresses to determine their individual chemistry with John Boyega, who plays Finn. It hasn’t been confirmed if Tran is one of the actresses who was tested. But it makes sense if she was, especially since it appears that Rose is joining Finn and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) in their adventures in The Last Jedi. Also, if Tran was chosen for, among her other talents, her chemistry with Boyega, we might expect a deep friendship (perhaps even a romance) between the two.
There is one more thing we know about Rose which has more significance in real life. Rose is the first female main character in Star Wars who is also Asian American. Kudos to Lucasfilm for keeping the image of the galaxy far, far away as a diverse one.
Hopefully, Vanity Fair‘s upcoming issue which spotlights The Last Jedi will reveal more about Rose Tico. Look for Vanity Fair‘s story and photos of The Last Jedi cast and set Wednesday, May 24.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters on December 15, 2017.