Star Wars actor Kelly Marie Tran says ‘trans rights are human rights’ in reference to Harry Potter
Kelly Marie Tran says “trans rights are human rights.” (Mat Hayward/Getty)
Kelly Marie Tran says "trans rights are human rights." (Mat Hayward/Getty)
Star Wars actor Kelly Marie Tran ensured that the mention of Harry Potter did not pass by without her voicing her support for trans rights in a recent interview.
Tran is best known for The Wedding Banquet and playing Rose Tico in the Star Wars films The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. In 2024, Tran publicly came out as queer.
The 37-year-old was in attendance at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival to promote her new horror film Rock Springs, which follows a grieving family haunted by secrets lurking in the woods behind their house, when the topic of Harry Potter arose.
While alongside writer-director Vera Miao and her co-stars Benedict Wong and Jimmy O. Yang, Variety asked the cast if they listen to audiobooks.
“I listen to a lot of Harry Potter these days,” Wong mused, referring to JK Rowling’s famous book series.
The conversation then drifted to the new Harry Potter audiobook series, and the upcoming HBO TV show, which features an entirely new cast. Stars currently involved in the forthcoming TV adaptation include Nick Frost, Paapa Essiedu, John Lithgow, and Janet McTeer.
After talking about Rock Springs, the conversation began to wrap up. However, Tran had one more thing to say.
‘Trans rights are human rights. I just wanted to say that’
“Can I say one thing before we end?” she began. “This theme of what happens when hatred turns into violence is such an important theme in our film.
“I will not be able to sleep tonight if I do not say, because we mentioned Harry Potter, that trans rights are human rights. I just wanted to say that.”
JK Rowling regularly voices her ‘gender-critical’ beliefs and makes frequent claims about the trans community online. Last year, the UK Supreme Court ruled that, for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, the legal definition of a woman excludes trans women. JK Rowling celebrated the ruling as “TERF VE Day”. It’s understood JK Rowling is an executive producer on the forthcoming HBO series.
Re-posting the video clip of Tran’s statement, a number of her fans praised the actor for standing up for the trans community.
“Kelly Marie Tran continues to be one of the best humans,” one fan posted.
Another noted: “Kelly has always been one of the very best. Mistreated by terrible fans and cast out by major franchises, she’s come through it strong, AND she still has the guts to say things that most actors are afraid to. What a woman.”
