Kelly Marie Tran is killing the game, per usual. The star of unequivocal masterpiece Star Wars: The Last Jedi can currently be heard reprising her role of Rose Tico in LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special on Disney+ and later this week can be heard in The Croods: A New Age, the surprisingly wonderful sequel to DreamWorks Animation’s 2013 original. In the film she plays Dawn Betterman, a more advanced human who finds the joy in connecting with her inner caveman. (She’s a total hoot.) And if that wasn’t enough, she’ll join Disney royalty in next spring’s animated Raya and the Last Dragon. Not too shabby.

We were overjoyed to get to talk to Tran about what her recent immersion in animation has been like, her favorite Star Wars fan interaction (spoiler: it’s not the kind of story you’ll expect), and how badly she wants to go to a seafood buffet with your Croods costar Nicolas Cage (when it is safe to do so, of course).

Collider: You've done a lot of animated stuff recently.

KELLY MARIE TRAN: Random, right?

As a performer, what the appeal of these projects?

TRAN: It's almost like being a kid again, if that makes sense. It's also not tied to... This is going to sound so weird and actor-y. But because it's not tied to your face and I don't have to worry about what I'm doing, I can physically be jumping up and down while I'm voicing a character and it doesn't seem strange. I guess having the ability to just completely be unrestrained is very exciting to me.

But then do you watch some of the things and see those movements in the character? Was there anything like that on Croods 2 where you did a facial expression and then it wound up in the movie?

TRAN: Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And Croods 2, specifically, has been such a joy to work on because Joel [Crawford], who directed it, we just had the best time just improvising. Honestly, it got really weird, and I think that's good. In some of those sessions…

How did it get weird?

TRAN: Yeah. In some of those sessions... Did you get a chance to watch it?

Yes.

TRAN: Okay, great. The whole thing with Dawn sort of going into this really intense, I don't want to say bro-y because I don't think it's the right word, but almost like intense wrestler voice was just from improvising and us having fun. And the scenes where she's under the influence of a bee sting, ha-ha, those scenes are just... It just was so much fun to find this character doing these things and just to be completely, again, unrestrained and just not... I guess, any time you can feel like you're in that mode of play without feeling judged is a really special thing, and I find that is particularly true with a lot of the animation stuff I've been able to do. I just feel this freedom, which I think I'm chasing at the moment.

You started obviously in sort of improv and sketch comedy. Do you feel yourself tapping into that same well for these things?

TRAN: Oh, yeah. Totally. And I think that's another thing that has made it such a joy, and especially during COVID. I miss doing improv shows in random indie theaters in LA. I just miss doing weird comedy. I think that doing voiceover has really sort of tapped into that part of me and it's brought me a lot of joy.

Were you a fan the first Croods? Did you know the world immediately when they came to you with the sequel?

TRAN: Yeah. And also, when you audition for something, you get an audition notice, and then you look at something and you're like, "Oh, I know what this is." And I feel the same way about all the properties I've done when it comes to this kind of stuff, Star Wars stuff, all of it. You get an audition and you look at it and you don't think to yourself that you're actually going to get it. Do you know what I mean?

You think, "Oh, I know this world. This is awesome. This is going to be so much fun," and you just go in as an actor, you do the best work you can, you just leave it at the door. I used to do this thing before I was auditioning for things that were a secret that I couldn't even get the sides to. But I used to do this thing in auditions where I would just take the sides that I had for the audition and just toss them afterwards and just have this weird, okay, I had my fun in the room and I don't try to judge my fun based on whether or not I get a part, if that makes sense. I try to make the reward what happens in the room.

Well, you keep getting hired, so you must be doing something right.

TRAN: We'll see.

You are in the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special that just came out as well. Do we think Rose had more lines in the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special than in Rise of Skywalker?

TRAN: Oh my goodness. Do we think? Do we have to count?

I think we have to count.

TRAN: That was so much fun. I love Rose. I have such an attachment to my time playing in that world and being that character. I'm just excited for people to see more of her. So yeah, that was really fun.

In this house, we stan Rose as well. We just watched The Last Jedi again this weekend, not even prompted by this.

TRAN: Aw, I love that.

Do you have a favorite Star Wars fan interaction or experience that you've had?

TRAN: Yes. Absolutely. And this was actually... I was in London I think for the London premiere of the movie and I had brought one of my best friends, Caitlin, who also... She and I went through UCB together and Second City, so we're both improv weirdos. She was my roommate when I booked the part of Rose, so she sort of saw me through this whole experience. And we're sitting in this... I remember because I think we had just seen Cursed Child because we're also huge Harry Potter fans. This interview is going off the rails, by the way. I'm just totally...

No, it’s perfect.

TRAN: Okay. So we had just seen Cursed Child. Imagine us and we're in this little pub, in the upstairs, eating meat pies. So good. And we're sitting there eating these meat pies, and I hear this table of like 10 people to the right of us who had just seen The Last Jedi and were fully discussing what they thought of this movie. I'm just sitting there with my friend, Caitlin, just eating these meat pies. So I just went over there and I was like, "Hey, guys," and they were like, "Hey." I was like, "I just wanted to say, I heard you talking about The Last Jedi. I play Rose and I just wanted to say hi." And I just think it's so exciting to be part of something that people love so much that they want to sit around a table in a pub and talk about it afterwards. I always think about how much of a privilege that is to be making things that a large amount of people want to see. It's sort of like a cultural touchstone. Then I just hung out with them for a little bit, and that was one of my favorite experiences because it just was sort of the encapsulation of me, for the first time, really working in this world and really experiencing being part of something that is so much bigger than me. And seeing the joy it brought other people was pretty cool.

I also love that it's a story about you going to someone else and not someone else coming up to you.

TRAN: Yeah. I'm a total freak, yeah. I was just like, "Oh, I'm just going to causally interrupt a meal right now."

I have to ask about Raya and the Last Dragon before I go, because everyone I've talked to you at Disney Animation just says that you came in and knocked it out of the park and everybody loves working with you, so just so you have a good reputation over there.

TRAN: Oh my gosh. Wait, that's so nice. That means so much.

What has that been like for you? You're a Disney princess now.

TRAN: Yeah. I am so thrilled and freaked out. Obviously, it's such a privilege to work with these incredible artists who truly... I grew up watching Disney films, as pretty much, I don't want to say everyone, but most people grew up on Disney films and just being such a fan of that world. And then to be able to come in and work with all of these incredible people who... Sometimes I'll have a conversation with someone and be like, "Cool, cool." I'll go on IMDB and Google and them and be like, "Whoa, they worked on The Lion King," and all these other things and it just freaks me out. It is just so cool.

Yeah, I always say this, and I know it sounds so cheesy because it probably is, but I just think it's true, everything that I've been able to do in my career this far very much feels like an impossible miracle. I am not someone who had connections in this industry. I'm not someone who knew how to do that. I really feel like I was like the blind leading the blind, trying to figure out how to audition and this world. Everyone who has dreams as a kid watching these movies and wanting to be a part of it, if there's anything that can prove that it's possible to do anything, it’s that somehow I am where I am continuing to do the things that I'm doing. Yeah, it means a lot to me that you, yeah, that you said that about the people that you know at Disney because I just love everyone there so much. I'm just grateful.

Croods 2 leaves things pretty open. You could come back. Would you jump at the chance to return?

TRAN: Yes. Yeah, absolutely. I had such a great time working on it. And also I still have not met Nic Cage and I find this to be a travesty. So I will do the third one just to meet Nic Cage. Make it happen, DreamWorks. Come on.

I hope post-quarantine, you and Nic Cage go out for seafood buffet or something.

TRAN: Like why hasn't this happened? Yes. Seafood buffet feels like just the thing with Nic Cage.

The Croods: A New Age is in theaters this Friday and will hit PVOD before Christmas.