Acting is a difficult profession, whether you're performing in plays or appearing in movie/TV roles. Not everyone is able to find success in that industry, and Kelly Marie Tran, who is debuting in Star Wars: The Last Jedi as Rose Tico, found herself in such a predicament before joining the Lucasfilm franchise. Shortly before being cast in the latest Star Wars installment, she was seriously considering quitting acting after years of unsuccessfully trying to score her big break. As the actress explained:
There was absolutely a moment. When I turned 25, I had been at it for some years and I was struggling to pay my bills. I was tired. I had been working [my day job] 40-plus hours a week, plus sometimes I'd have two auditions in the day and then I would write a sketch or do improv at night, or rehearse for the next auditions the next day. So, my days, I would get up at 5 a.m. and then I wouldn't be home until 11:00 p.m. The days were like that for years.
Before being cast in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kelly Marie Tran had appeared on TV shows like About a Boy and Comedy Bang! Bang!, but trying to balance her day job with furthering her acting career was taking a toll. Fortunately for her, a year after she considered leaving acting behind her, the audition for The Last Jedi came along. As Tran told EW, she had to go to the final callback for the movie during her lunch break at her regular job, but soon after, director Rian Johnson informed her that he wanted her for the movie. Now she's a star in one of the most highly-anticipated blockbusters of the year, and just like what happened with Daisy Ridley and John Boyega after The Force Awakens, soon folks across the world will know who Tran is. No doubt it will also be significantly easier for her to find work on other movie and TV projects from this point forward, and that's assuming she's not already slated to return for Episode IX.
While Rose Tico has barely been featured in the Star Wars: The Last Jedi marketing and promotional material, a number of details have been released about her over the last year. A maintenance worker for The Resistance (where her sister Paige also serves as a gunner), she'll be paired with Finn on a top-secret mission for the organization, which will involve the two of them traveling to Canto Bight and going undercover within The First Order. Rose also wears a crescent-shaped necklace that is significant to her backstory, which will be explored later in the movie.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released in theaters on December 15. If you're interested in what other movies will be released over the next year, look through our 2017 premiere guide and 2018 premiere guide.
