Kelly Marie Tran

Kelly Marie Tran was an American actress who made waves in Hollywood in early 2016 when she was cast in an undisclosed role in "Star Wars: Episode VIII" (2017). Born and raised in San Diego, California, Tran's love of performing started at a very young age. She began appearing in various song and dance productions throughout her hometown, thus honing her craft as a stage performer, before moving to Los Angeles to attend UCLA. While in L.A., Tran jumpstarted her comedic acting career by attending classes at many of the city's major improvisational comedy training programs, like Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City, and IO. With her improv chops growing, Tran made the leap into comedic web videos in 2011 with the short video "Untouchable." Over the next few years she would appear in several more comedic web videos and web series, primarily for the comedy website College Humor. Tran also appeared in the pilot for the short-lived NBC sitcom "About a Boy" (NBC, 2014-15), as well as a starring role on the comedy web series "Ladies Like Us" (2013-15). After about five years of making a name for herself as a comedic force to be reckoned with, Tran, who was a relative unknown, surprised "Star Wars" fans the world over when it was announced that she would be appearing in a secretive role in the eighth episode of the science-fiction film series. Furthermore, 2016 was also the year Tran appeared in an indie romantic comedy for Netflix called "XoXo" (2016).