“Raya And The Last Dragon” star Kelly Marie Tran is addressing anti-Asian racism and hate on the latest episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”.
“It’s been really, really difficult,” says the actress, who lends her voice to Disney’s first Southeast Asian princess in the animated movie. “I think to feel so many feelings at once… It’s such a difficult time for the Asian-American community and I think it hits everyone different. So many of my friends have been talking about, ‘Okay, what are the ways that we can productively help?’ and also recognizing that we all need to make sure that we’re taking care of ourselves and our mental health at the same time.”
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“For me, something that has been really strange about it is I’m here talking about ‘Raya’ — this movie that is celebrating this part of the world that very rarely gets to be celebrated — and having that dichotomy of celebrating this part of the world and also acknowledging these horrible things that are happening at the same time has been a very wild experience,” she explains.
Tran hopes that people will find some comfort in “Raya And The Last Dragon” and its celebratory nature.
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“If there’s anything I have learned from this whole experience and my own personal experiences with racism is that community is the one way to help combat any sort of negativity,” she says. “I’m really inspired by seeing the ways that people are really banding together to combat this thing.”
Tran’s episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” airs on Wednesday, March 24.
