Raya and the Last Dragon finally premieres through Disney+ on March, and it’s already enjoying some of the best reviews of the year. The latest Disney animated adventure follows warrior princess Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) as she tries to restore her homeland of Kumandra by finding – you guessed it – the last dragon, Sisu.
Tran spoke to Screen Rant about the privilege of being the first Southeast Asian Disney princess and discovering more about both herself and her character during the recording process.
How did you approach Raya's loneliness and distress when shaping the character?
Kelly Marie Tran: I think we've all felt lonely before. I think that, in a lot of those moments, it was really important for me to feel like those moments were authentic. Especially the moments where she is doing this really desperate prayer to see who she doesn't even know exists. To capture those moments in an emotionally authentic way felt really important in order for the rest of the movie to feel emotionally anchored.
So, I guess I really dug into parts of myself. I think we all have a little bit of that inside of us. But playing Raya has been a really cool experience, and I've learned so much from playing her.
Raya and Namaari are more similar than they would care to admit. How do you view their frenemy relationship?
Kelly Marie Tran: Yeah. They are definitely two characters who, if the world just went a little bit differently, both could have been really good friends. And I think what's really interesting about that depiction of their relationship is recognizing that here are two women who both have ways of viewing the world, and they're both justifying their actions through very different lenses. The more that we can recognize there are no real good guys and bad guys, [we see] it's really just people trying their best to interact in this world with the little information that we have.
They're able, by the end of the movie, to recognize that maybe the things they believed about each other aren't necessarily true. And I think that's a really important lesson that they both learned. It's a really hard thing to do, to change your mind once you've made up your mind about someone. And to have characters do that in a really real authentic way, in a movie like this that's on a global scale, I think will be really hopefully empowering to people.
A lead of Southeast Asian origin in Hollywood is already rare, but you have the distinction of entering the Disney Princess pantheon as well. How do you feel about honoring various Southeast Asian cultures in Raya, and perhaps even introducing audiences to them?
Kelly Marie Tran: Yeah, I'm so proud to be part of this movie. I'm so proud of being able to be part of a movie that is honoring this part of the world that not many people have probably been exposed to. I love how meticulous everyone on this team has been about making sure that we are authentically representing that part of the world.
And then, when we talk about the legacy of being part of this really special sisterhood of Disney Princesses, that to me is pretty overwhelming. Not many people get this privilege, and I recognize that privilege. I just wish that I could bring every person who's ever wanted to experience this with me along for the ride, because it's truly, absolutely overwhelming and emotional, and better than I could even have dreamed it would be.
I love the way that Kumandra was laid out. Which one of the lands would you live in, if it were your own personal preference?
Kelly Marie Tran: I think I would absolutely live in - depending on when we're talking. By the end of the movie, Heart is pretty rad. But in the beginning of the movie, or in the middle of the movie, not so much. I think Fang consistently has the best infrastructure and schools throughout the entire movie, so it's between Heart and Fang.
You and Awkwafina have amazing chemistry in this film. Did you get to record together to bounce off each other, or was that done separately?
Kelly Marie Tran: Yeah. Unfortunately, it was done separately. I didn't really get to interact much with her until we started doing press together, and I just think she's so incredible and funny and talented and just infectious. Her energy is really infectious.
And yeah, the fact that our chemistry is good just says more about our editors and our story team, and just the incredibly talented people that were able to make sure our relationship fit in a way. Because we were recording in total isolation.
