Kelly Marie Tran replaces Cassie Steele as lead in Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon

Star Wars: The Last Jedi star Kelly Marie Tran will be voicing the lead character in Disney’s animated feature Raya and the Last Dragon . Tran has replaced actor Cassie Steele on the project, becoming the first Southeast Asian to lead a Disney animated film, reported Entertainment Weekly. Set in the fantasy kingdom of Kumandra, the film is about Raya, a warrior who teams with a crew of misfits in her quest to find the Last Dragon and bring light and unity back to their world. According to Variety, Tran has become the first Southeast Asian American to lead a Disney animated film with her casting in Raya and the Last Dragon.  “I didn’t know that I was yearning just to see someone who looks like me. She is someone who is technically a princess, but I think that what’s really cool about this project, about this character specifically, is that everyone’s trying to flip the narrative on what it means to be a princess,” Tran told the outlet about her character. Read the announcement below

Check out the first look of Raya, voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, in Raya and the Last Dragon, from directors Don Hall & Carlos López Estrada, writers Qui Nguyen & Adele Lim, producers Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho, and co-directors Paul Briggs & John Ripa. In theaters 3/12/21. pic.twitter.com/pS2f1oFZnV

— Disney (@Disney) August 27, 2020

The Farewell star Awkawafina plays a dragon in human form named Sisu. Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada are directing the feature with Paul Briggs and John Ripa serving as co-directors. Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim are working on the film’s script. Raya and the Last Dragon was originally scheduled to debut in theatres in November this, but amid the coronavirus pandemic, its release was shifted to 12 March, 2021. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)