Written By: Jayme Face
Thalia Tran is young Musician and actress who can be seen in the upcoming film Little starring Regina Hall and the upcoming NBC pilot Council of Dads!
Photo Credit: Deidhra Fahey.
upfrontNY: How did you get started acting?
Thalia Tran: Well, I actually got started into music a long time before I got started in acting. I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. I love composing music as well. I’ve played the piano since I was 6 and I also play the guitar. I just love expressing myself through music and basically I had been taking music lessons for a while when my vocal coach said “Hey, you should take acting lessons.” and he said it would be a great way to improve my performance skills. So, I just signed up for lessons just to try it out and I immediately fell in love with acting. I knew it was what I wanted to do because it was incredible and I continued to love acting and I love it more and more and more every day. I’m grateful, really really grateful.
upfrontNY: What is your favorite part of acting?
Thalia Tran: I love a lot about acting. I love telling stories. I love conveying messages to audiences that are really necessary. In today’s world we can inspire people and we can make change. Something else that I love about acting is you get to see the world through different perspectives because as an actor you almost get to live multiple lives. You get to experience life as multiple people. You also get to explore the what ifs of life like what if this happened or what if that happened and what if I was this person, what if I was that person. It’s really fascinating to explore what it’s like to be different people living different lives and maybe different universes; so it’s great.
upfrontNY: You said you compose music, what kind of music to you gravitate towards?
Thalia Tran: Well I’m classically trained in piano, but I have always really loved pop music. It’s something fun and upbeat and makes you happy, but at the same time because of my classical training I do have classical influences. It’s not that it’s necessarily one specific pianist or anything that influences my style of music. I think it’s having that background. I’ll just notice it like wow I’m using this particular cadence or I like to use these certain chord progressions. So, I think I definitely love to use the piano. I use the guitar as well, but mainly I am comfortable with using the piano. So, I’ll compose classical influence on pop.
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about Little and your role as Raina.
Thalia Tran: Little is a comedy about a successful business woman named Jordan Sanders. She is wealthy and powerful, but she’s also really selfish and condescending. Then she wakes up one morning and finds herself trapped in the body of her thirteen-year-old self. So, she has to figure out how to return to her adult self because she has a business to manage; she has a lot of things to do. Meanwhile she is forced to attend school where she meets my character Raina along with Isaac and Devin. We’re a part of the “friend zone” which is a group full of outcasts. My character was humiliated for wearing unfashionable clothing and ever since that incident I have been an outsider. So, Jordan tries to teach us how to be cool by acting and dressing differently, but through these experiences Jordan and my character and Isaac and Devin, we all learn a lot about embracing your individuality and being yourself.
upfrontNY: What was it like being a part of this film and what did you enjoy most about filming this film?
Thalia Tran: Wow! So, it was an absolutely amazing experience. I think everyone worked together really well. The cast and crew were all so talented and dedicated. I also loved the extraordinary girl power behind the movie like Issa and Regina. They’re all girl bosses and I love it all so much. Two things in particular that made the filming process so incredible was first of all I was so happy to be working with the wonderful cast and crew. Everyone worked so hard to bring their vision to life and everyone fed off of each other’s energy. As a cast, we became really close and I learned so much from everyone around me. The other thing I really enjoyed was being able to send the positive message through my character because Littlepromotes the message that you should be true to who you are and this is so true. And it’s wonderful to be putting that positivity out there.
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about Council of Dads?
Thalia Tran: Council of Dads is an NBC drama pilot. It’s based off of Bruce Feiler’s best-selling novel,” Council of Dads.” It’s about a father, Scott Perry, who is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. So, he gathers his close friends to become the father figure for his children in case he doesn’t survive. I play Charlotte Perry his adopted daughter who is struggling to figure out who she is and where she belongs in the world. The script is so beautiful and powerful and it’s truly amazing to see how the cast and crew are able to bring the words and scenes to life.
upfrontNY: Who is your favorite actor that you would like to film a movie/TV show with?
Thalia Tran: Oh, my goodness! There are a lot of actors that I would love to do a film or TV show with. I think sometimes you don’t realize how incredible someone is until you are right there working with them and you’re like wow there is so much I can learn from this person. I think from the start I have been wanting to work with Natalie Portman. I remember watching The Professional when I was about ten-years-old, parts of it, only parts of it! As a young performer and artist Natalie Portman’s performance was really inspirational to me because I saw that age didn’t have to be a limit. You can work hard and you can be really focused and maybe someday I would be as amazing as she was which was really inspiring for me. Also, I want to work with Constance Wu. Seeing Constance Wu in Crazy Rich Asians and Fresh Off the Boat was incredible. As an Asian American actress, it was really really inspiring to see there being more representation for everyone. I really hope that I would be able to contribute to this movement. I would love to talk to her about being at the center of this movement and maybe take some advice from her. It’s wonderful to be seeing all these positive role models not being trapped by your race or what you look like. It’s great for people to be seeing your talent, not what you look like and not be defined by that.
upfrontNY: What kind of role do you hope to have one day?
Thalia Tran: I love fantasy, action, mystery, and all that stuff. One day maybe I would love to play a superhero. Seeing Captain Marvel coming out, having all those strong female role models I would love to be a superhero one day. I think that would be so cool. It sounds like a childhood dream, but maybe someday I would be able to live that dream. I think it would be an incredible filming process. And having that escape from reality and being able to bring the audience along with you in a universe where anything is possible I think that would be amazing.
upfrontNY: What do you like to do when you are not acting?
Thalia Tran: I don’t have very much free time these days, but I love hanging out with my friends and family of course. I am really close to my family. I have two amazing parents and a wonderful little sister. We do all sorts of things. I think I would describe myself as a really happy and optimistic person so it’s easy for me to find anything fun. I love being creative too. I love to write. Maybe someday I’ll write a screenplay or something. I would love to do that. I don’t know. I feel like that is something that is really far away from me. Right now, I’m focusing on acting and singing, but I don’t know because that part of me is strong. And just, you know, regular kid stuff I guess. I have lots of homework to do, it’s not necessarily something that I do for fun, but it’s something I still have to do.
Favorite Fast Five
Favorite color-I’ve always loved lime green for some reason, but lately I also like a light purple. It’s really strange, but yeah I love those colors.
Favorite animal-I like humans, just kidding. I’ve never had a pet before. I love dogs and cats, but I’m allergic to cats so I guess I’ll never get a cat.
Favorite food– I love food! I love macarons. I love fruits, pomegranate and mango. I love food! Wow!
Favorite movie– It’s one of those really hard things because you love different aspects of the movies that you watch, but I think definitely one of the most memorable movies that I mentioned earlier was The Professional because that’s what really inspired me to get my start and to allow me to believe in myself. It was a really important part of the start of my career.
Favorite book-I started the “Harry Potter” series. Because I am so busy I always end up stopping somewhere which is really sad. I haven’t read the whole series through. I have to get some free time to read the whole series, but out of all the books I’ve read I love “Harry Potter”. I love the idea of magic and fantasy and that’s why I want to be a superhero and I just love fantasy.
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