If you look at the bio on Tran’s Instagram page—which has sat empty of content since she left social media in 2018—you’ll see this motto: “Afraid, but doing it anyway.” The joy and temptation of getting to play a Disney princess who might not just change the fictional world of Kumandra, but the real-world lives of legions of kids, were enough to pull Tran through: “I think that we made something really beautiful.”
That empty Instagram page is part of a new deal Tran struck with Disney. These days it’s nearly impossible for an actor like Tran to conduct her career without a social media platform. But Tran was determined to keep her boundaries firmly in place: “I think the best thing I ever did for myself was to listen to that voice inside of me that told me that we might be living in a world that tells us we have to do A, B, and C, but you can figure out a different way to interact in this world. I’ve been really, really grateful that Disney has let me do publicity on this movie by sending them things so that they can post them on the Raya channel”—like a charming tour of all the Disney memorabilia in her home.
Tran said she’s “really happy” to not have her own social media channel, and not to be made to put herself in a place that feels “mentally unhealthy” for her. Disney’s support here is a far cry from 2018, when the social media team at the Disney-owned Lucasfilm didn’t publicly take a stance against the bullying she experienced. Tran generously acknowledged that just as she was new to the world of online culture and the massive pressures of a large fandom, so, too, were studios just figuring out their responsibilities when it came to social media.
These days a studio’s social media team no longer has the luxury of staying silent in the face of online abuse. When Krystina Arielle, the newly minted host of a Star Wars web series called The High Republic Show, was the target of a similarly racist attack in January of this year, the Lucasfilm social team took the unprecedented step of publicly circling the wagons via a tweet that read: “Our Star Wars community is one of hope and inclusivity. We do not stand for bullying and racism. We support @KrystinaArielle.” A few weeks later Lucasfilm publicly parted ways with actor Gina Carano over her own controversial social media practices.
“I think it’s cool that they’ve taken a stance,” Tran said of Lucasfilm moving away from its previous public-facing neutrality. “I think we’re living in a world where you almost can’t not. God, it’s almost like we’re living in a time where you’re either speaking up about justice or you’re just being complicit. It feels like they’re sort of taking steps and dealing with what’s happening now, which I’m glad that they are.”
Then again, whatever moves Lucasfilm is making now won’t change what happened to Tran during the Last Jedi rollout. “When I think about all that stuff that you just brought up, it’s hard because I really try to remind myself that I did what was best for myself in that instance. I’m really proud that I did what I needed to take care of myself,” she said. “That feels like something I’m really proud of even now, like, years later.”
When Tran is speaking passionately about something, her voice raises slightly and speeds up a bit. But her passion, at least based on this interview, never morphs completely into anger. Her animated counterpart, though, lets loose in ways that Tran herself finds empowering. Unlike other Disney princesses, she said, “Raya is just angry—and letting her be angry, I don’t know that we’ve seen that before.