It has now been a few months since the finalStar Warsmovie in the Skywalker saga,The Rise of Skywalker, was released and the response is still pretty split. Continuing the fan divide that began with previous installmentThe Last Jedi, a huge complaint that one section of the fanbase had of the movie was the total lack of screentime for Kelly Marie Tran’s spirited engineer Rose Tico.
Kelly Marie Tranhas now spoken about this while giving an interview at the 92nd Academy Awards, where she was asked about the “Where’s Rose?” controversy that swept the internet back in December.
“Last Jedi was my first movie, you know? So I think I’m finally starting to realize that when you’re in something of that caliber, there’s so many people working to make something out of love. And no matter what you do, there’s always going to be people that aren’t happy with that. But I think the best lesson that I’ve learned is just to have fun and be present in the moment. So I’m really grateful that I got to be a part of it.”
Tran proves herself to be a pillar of class with that response, having made the very healthy decision to just have fun and enjoy the moment rather than become embroiled in the critical backlash. Back whenThe Rise of Skywalkerwas released thefan response to Rose’s exclusionwent viral, with fans on one side seeing it as nothing less than an insult.
After being introduced as a main character inThe Last Jedi, and her role being integral to Finn’s arc, she was thenreduced to a glorified extra, staying back on the rebel base while Rey, Poe, Finn, and C3PO adventured across the galaxy. In fact, her role totaled a mere 1 minute and 16 seconds, which considering her prevalence inThe Last Jediis quite ridiculous.
A huge swathe of fans took to social media to declare that thelack of RoseinThe Rise of Skywalkerhad left them “livid”, with a lot of them claiming that her importance as the first woman of color to star in a live-action Star Wars movie had now been undermined. Of course,The Rise of Skywalkerdid have the unenviable task of wrapping up over 40 years of theStar Warsfranchise, so perhaps there genuinely was not time to include Rose in the way some fans wanted.
“I think that I’m just really amazed at the way that J.J. was able to sort of wrap up all these incredible stories. There were so many characters. And at the end of the day, I got to be apart of something bigger than me, and that’s really special.”
Needless to say, Kelly Marie Tran has not had the best time withStar Wars, with the backlash towards her character even landing her in therapy. But it is good to hear that she can look back fondly on the experience despite this. This comes to us fromMTV News.
