Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
ForKelly Marie Tran, working onThe Wedding Banquetwas transformative in more ways than one.
“I didn’t really mean to come out initially,” Tran tellsEntertainment Weekly.
And I said, ‘I’m so excited to tell a queer story as a queer person.’
Kelly Marie Tran attends the Los Angeles premiere of ‘The Wedding Banquet’ on April 14, 2024.Credit:Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
And then I was like, wait, I don’t know if I want that in there.
I haven’t thought about it."
Fortunately, Canfield, a former EW staffer, worked with Tran to decide what to do next.
Kelly Marie Tran, Lily Gladstone, Han Gi-chan, and Bowen Yang in ‘The Wedding Banquet’.Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
“He was so kind,” she says.
Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
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Working on the film, she says, “really felt like a warm hug.”
Lily Gladstone and Kelly Marie Tran in ‘The Wedding Banquet’.Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
“We were never on a crew that was primarily queer.
At least for me, I haven’t had that experience before.
I don’t know when it’ll happen again.”
It felt natural, then, to step publicly into her truth.
“I was like, why would I not share this part of myself?
It felt dishonest, almost.”
But that’s not to say there wasn’t any trepidation.
These days, Tran pays no mind to that particular period in her life.
That is why we go to support groups!"
The overall experience of working on the feature, Tran says, has left an indelible mark.
“We all came to set and felt immediately comfortable to play with each other.
As an adult, that’s such a hard thing to do with strangers, essentially.
By the end of it, we were such a chosen family.”
The Wedding Banquetarrives in theaters on April 18.
