Kelly Marie Tran massively broke onto Hollywood’s radar, originating the role of Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Three years after that movie premiered in 2017 and months after the controversy surrounding Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Tran has a new TV project lined up, which also stars Kaitlyn Dever.
THR reports that Kelly Marie Tran has signed on for Monsterland, the upcoming horror anthology for Hulu. Tran will star in the episode “Iron River, MI.” Each episode covers a different story from Nathan Ballingrud, so Tran will, unfortunately, not co-star with Kaitlyn Dever in the series. As its title suggests, Monsterland centers around “monsters.”
As the official description explains, not necessarily a monster, but creatures outside of the usual realm. These include mermaids and fallen angels, along with “strange beasts.” It is unclear which of those Kelly Marie Tran will encounter for her episode of Monsterland, though. Does the episode taking place on a river indicate potential mermaid activity?
I am not entirely familiar with mermaids roaming rivers. In popular lore, they can usually be found in the ocean. That is not to say that Monsterland cannot shake things up. In Kelly Marie Tran’s episode, she will play Lauren, a small-town Michigan native returning to said town for her wedding.
No mermaids yet, but, wait for it. Kelly Marie Tran’s Lauren is said to have built a new life for herself after a pretty traumatic event, which happened when she and her best friend, Elena, were sixteen and Elena disappeared. But, what may sound like a case for Unsolved Mysteries, will see other intrigues manifest.
My current guess is that Elena being sixteen may have triggered her inner mermaid, and she had to take to the river to survive. Perhaps it happened too quickly for her to tell Kelly Marie Tran’s Lauren where she was going and why. Of course, Monsterland will be the best source to figure out whether my theory is true or not.
Kaitlyn Dever’s Monsterland episode finds her playing Toni, a Louisiana waitress and single mother to a troubled young daughter, and will see Toni get tangled up with a suspicious guy. So, clearly, that is an entirely different episode from Kelly Marie Tran’s. For now, it is not the team-up some fans might have hoped for between Tran and Dever.
The role is not Kelly Marie Tran’s first in television. She also had Facebook’s two-season drama, Sorry for Your Loss. This is exciting news for fans of the actress, who were incredibly disappointed with her screen time in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Following the controversy, there was hope that Tran would come to TV in a Star Wars-related capacity.
Crazy Rich Asians’ Jon M. Chu had publicly backed the idea of Kelly Marie Tran headlining a Rose Tico TV show for Disney+. So keep hope alive that such a show can happen. In the meantime, there is also a desire for Tran to join that Knives Out sequel.
Whatever happens with that or a Rose Tico TV show, fans can look forward to catching Kelly Marie Tran in an intriguing-sounding episode of Monsterland. At least, it sounds that way to me. A premiere date for Monsterland is still pending, but when it is released, it will bow on Hulu. For what to watch while you wait for Monsterland to arrive, check out this fall’s premieres.
