Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico was one of the more exciting additions to the Star Wars universe in The Last Jedi, as it offered audiences an all-new perspective on the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order. Sadly, a vocal minority of fans took it upon themselves to harass the actress with racist and sexist attacks. Now that she has spoken out about her experience, co-star Mark Hamill took to Twitter to praise Tran.
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The actor shared an article about Tran’s editorial, where she noted she’d be embracing her real first name “Loan,” with Hamill adding, “I said it before & I’ll say it again: WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE? 😍 I love you, Loan… we don’t deserve you & you ARE just getting started.”
Second only to The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson, Tran was subjected to the most amount of abuse in the aftermath of the film, likely because being a new addition to the saga made her an easier target than actors who had already appear in the original trilogy or The Force Awakens, which fans mostly enjoyed. Unsurprisingly, the other character that was subjected to “criticisms” by fans was Laura Dern’s Admiral Holdo, who also debuted in the film.
To make the assumption that the only reason to dislike The Last Jedi is because you are racist or sexist is a wild leap, as the effectiveness of all art is subjective, though the harassment endured by Tran specifically and the countless direct attacks on her gender and race prove that there was a subset of “fans” whose criticisms were driven merely by who Tran is as a person.
Earlier this year, Tran suddenly deactivated her social media accounts without giving a public explanation, with many assuming it was due to the endless barrage of insults she suffered at fans upset with her Star Wars film. With the actress not officially confirming her own personal reasons for leaving social media behind, some critics claimed Tran supporters were jumping to conclusions about why she left social media, yet her editorial now confirms the harassment was absolutely what motivated that decision.
“I had been brainwashed into believing that my existence was limited to the boundaries of another person’s approval. I had been tricked into thinking that my body was not my own, that I was beautiful only if someone else believed it, regardless of my own opinion,” the actress shared in her NY Times piece.
Both Hamill and Tran will be appearing in Star Wars: Episode IX, which lands in theaters in December of 2019.
Are you glad to see Hamill supporting his co-star? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
[H/T Twitter, HamillHimself]
