“At the end of the day, I got to be part of something so much bigger than me.”

For all its faults, JJ Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker delivers a barnstorming space romp that ties the knot on a nine-movie saga four decades in the making. But let’s just say it didn’t win any Oscars. At the awards night on Sunday, one of the movie’s major controversies, the reduced role of Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico, was addressed by the actress herself.

“Last Jedi was my first movie, so I think I’m finally starting to realize that when you’re in something of that caliber, there’s so many people working to make something out of love, and no matter what you do, there’s always going to be people who aren’t happy with that,” Tran told MTV News on the red carpet, nearly two months since the The Rise of Skywalker’s release.

“I think that the best lesson I’ve learned is just to have fun and be present in the moment. So, I’m really grateful that I got to be a part of it.”

When asked more directly if she was satisfied with how her part ended up in The Rise of Skywalker, Tran replied: “I mean, I think that I’m really just amazed at how J.J. [Abrams] was able to sort of wrap up all of these incredible stories.

“There were so many characters and at the end of the day I got to be part of something so much bigger than me so that’s special.”

Resistance fighter Rose Tico was first introduced in Rian Johnson’s divisive The Last Jedi, sharing one of the main plot threads with John Boyega’s Finn. In 2018, Tran deleted posts on her Instagram account reportedly due to online abuse from Star Wars fans who pinned their dissatisfaction with the movie on Tran.

The Rise of Skywalker, the second Star Wars movie directed by Abrams, saw Rose’s role reduced to just over a minute of screen time. Co-screenwriter Chris Terrio attributed the cutting of her scenes, all of which featured Carrie Fisher’s General Leia, to difficulties with repurposing unused footage of the late actress.

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