San Francisco Chronicle

Southeast Asian star breaks barriers as Disney princess.

After ‘Star Wars’ star turn, Tran gives Disney its first Southeast Asian princess

- By Brandon Yu

In 2018, months after Kelly Marie Tran had appeared onscreen in the latest installmen­t of the “Star Wars” franchise, she wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times. It was at once a raw account of the quiet racism she had internaliz­ed growing up in San Diego as a Vietnamese American — incidents mirrored by a wave of vitriolic online attacks directed at her amid her role in “The Last Jedi” — and also a fiery, aggrieved stand against being shaped by such ugly experience­s.

“I am the first woman of color to have a leading role in a ‘Star Wars’ movie. I am the first Asian woman to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair,” Tran wrote in the final lines of the article. “My real name is Loan. And I am just getting started.”

Tran, it seems, was right: She is now the star of another Disney blockbuste­r, “Raya and the Last Dragon,” which opens in select theaters and begins streaming on Disney+ with Premier Access on Friday, March 5. But as much as being the first was framed in Tran’s words as a defiant celebratio­n, the notion of firsts is in truth more fraught for her — being in the spotlight in such a way is in part what opened her up to such a volume of online hate.

“Viscerally, it’s scary,” Tran tells The Chronicle in a video interview when asked what it meant stepping into yet another historic role. Playing the titular role in the new Disney animated feature, she has become the first Southeast Asian Disney princess. The role also happens to be Tran’s first solo lead in a feature film, a fact that, when stated to her, makes her eyes widen and induces a kind of incredulou­s laugh. Tran, after all, has only been a working actor for four years, she notes — and, under the scrutiny and harassment of “Star Wars” fandom, has been through the wringer in the process.

“I don’t know if I could play Rose now, if that

makes sense,” Tran says, referring to her character in the “Star Wars” franchise. “I don’t know how to explain this, but I feel like the universe brings you certain things in moments of your life when you can fully relate to that circumstan­ce and that character.”

Going through that process a few years ago and wading through the aftermath of it seems to offer a mirror for Tran in her latest role. In the film, Tran plays Raya, a warrior princess from Heart, one of the five lands of the fictional world of Kumandra. After the dragons of Kumandra sacrifice themselves to save humanity from the dark monsters known as the Druun, mankind descends into civil war over the mystical power that the final dragon (voiced by Awkwafina) leaves behind. In the process, Raya faces betrayal from someone she trusts, at a tragic cost.

“Raya, for me, is someone who had a very ideal way of looking at the world and then suddenly this traumatic thing happens to her and the world literally breaks,” Tran explains, “and it changes the way she looks at the world. Suddenly people can’t be trusted. Suddenly everything is dangerous.”

To save the world, Raya is forced to open herself up to others and trust again. “That is not unlike my arc in terms of what I experience­d,” Tran says, adding that being part of this film is a form of healing for her.

And yet, headlining a Disney epic that enters new cultural territorie­s is again leaving her open to criticism, particular­ly at a time when the Asian American community is reeling from a spate of violent attacks — prompting actors such as Daniel Dae Kim (who voices Raya’s father) and Daniel Wu, who lives in Oakland, to call for justice. While Kumandra exists in a fantastica­l universe, its cultures are informed by the history and traditions of Southeast Asian countries.

To ensure cultural authentici­ty, the production underwent rigorous and meticulous research. The filmmaking team visited several countries throughout Southeast Asia and assembled a Southeast Asia Story Trust, a crew of specialist­s made up of Southeast Asians — among them Lao visual cultural anthropolo­gist Steve Arounsack, Thai architect Nathakrit Sunthareer­at and Cambodian archaeolog­ist Chen Chanratana — that ensured careful attention to cultural authentici­ty, from the martial arts styles in the film to the textile patterns in costuming.

Arounsack lives in Pleasanton and teaches at Cal State Stanislaus.

The film’s writers, Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim, and head of story, Fawn Veerasunth­orn, are also Southeast Asian.

“At all times there were people from within the culture who were at the table,” the film’s producer Osnat Shurer says, “so a lot of things just spontaneou­sly that are in your DNA — like how you would speak to a parent — work its way into the film organicall­y.”

The result is a film that is not only culturally sensitive, but on a cinematic level also contribute­s to the most immersive worldbuild­ing within an animated film in recent memory.

Of course, that has not inoculated “Raya and the Last Dragon” from criticism altogether. Early on, some bristled online at the cast whose many stars were of East Asian descent, rather than Southeast Asian.

“It’s hard because it’s a doubleedge­dsword situation,” Tran acknowledg­es. “On the one hand, those comments are coming from people who rightfully want to see authentic representa­tion. On the other hand, there’s also this thing of wanting to celebrate the doors that this movie will open. I don’t know if there is one correct answer to that.”

A Disney film’s attention on this specific region of the world is a rare and valuable distinctio­n for mainstream cultural perception­s of Asia, which tend to be dominated by stories centered on larger East Asian countries, such as the Chinaset dynastic Disney epic “Mulan.” Dialogue around honoring these cultures, even when critical, Shurer and Tran say, is important, and listening to that feedback is part and parcel of the film’s message. The division among the people of Kumandra is an allegory for what the state of the world often feels like, particular­ly in the years since the project began. In the film’s telling, there is still hope for a path toward healing.

“This movie really encapsulat­es that despite the brokenness of everything, there’s a way to move forward and hopefully fight for a better world,” Tran says. “It seems even impossible for me sometimes ... but watching this movie for the first time, it got me emotional because I recognized how much I want to believe in it.”

 ?? Samir Hussein / WireImage 2019 ?? Top, Raya (voice of Kelly Marie Tran) works to save the world in “Raya and the Last Dragon.” Tran, above, said being in the spotlight has had its pitfalls.
“Raya and the Last Dragon” (PG) opens in select theaters and begins streaming on Disney+ with Premier Access on Friday, March 5.
Samir Hussein / WireImage 2019 Top, Raya (voice of Kelly Marie Tran) works to save the world in “Raya and the Last Dragon.” Tran, above, said being in the spotlight has had its pitfalls. “Raya and the Last Dragon” (PG) opens in select theaters and begins streaming on Disney+ with Premier Access on Friday, March 5.
 ?? Walt Disney Animation Studios ??
Walt Disney Animation Studios
 ?? Walt Disney Animation Studios ?? A young Raya (voice of Kelly Marie Tran) is seen with King Benja in “Raya and the Last Dragon.”
Walt Disney Animation Studios A young Raya (voice of Kelly Marie Tran) is seen with King Benja in “Raya and the Last Dragon.”

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