Kelly Marie Tran Quotes

Growing up, I was very aware that there weren't many people like me on the screen.

I didn't have a hero playing in sports that looked like me.

What we realized is if you don't see yourself represented - no matter if it is on TV or in a club or whatever - you're probably not going to want to attend. You're not going to feel comfortable.

I'm not into the Oscar and Emmys as much as I used to be because I'm tired of looking at people who don't look like me.

Growing up, I never saw any Asian faces on TV, so it didn't feel like a viable option.

Representation is necessary, and we all want to turn on the TV and see characters who look like us and represent us in some way.

I just didn't see any toys that looked like me when I was a kid.

If you never, or rarely, see your experience depicted in art or pop culture then you can begin to feel isolated or separate; Othered. So, representation is super important.

I feel bad for my little cousins who don't see themselves being represented, or the little girls in my community who won't have a chance to see a Disney princess... who resembles them.

I was seeing people of color growing up in my media. I was seeing them in positions of power.

There is power in seeing a face that looks like yours do something, be someone. There is power in moving from the sidelines to the center.

For those of you who are underrepresented in technology, know that you've always been here. Look in photos and see yourself reflecting back.

I grew up never seeing myself on-screen, and it's really important to me to give people who look like me a chance to see themselves. I want to see myself as the hero of any story. I want to see myself save the world from the bomb.

I loved reading when I grew up but did feel totally invisible because I couldn't see myself and my life reflected in the books I was reading.

I know one of the reasons I first started making Youtube videos was because no one looks like me.

We all know the power of film; we all know there's almost nothing more powerful than to see people on film that look and talk like you, like we do.

I didn't see a lot of women who looked like me on TV when I was growing up.

It meant something to see people who looked like me in comic books. It was this beautiful place that I felt pop culture should look like.

When I grew up, I never saw anyone looking like me on TV, you know? I'm so glad to see a lot more of us on television, whether it's Mindy Kaling or it's Irrfan Khan or Freida Pinto. You know, I hope, like, little girls across the world can just look at me and say, 'Ah, I want to be that!' Indian or not, it shouldn't matter.

I know what it's like to turn the page of a magazine and not see anyone like you. It takes a lot, a lot, a lot of talking to yourself to confirm your self-worth.

I'm really passionate about representation in film. I feel like the world is dominated by such a small group of human beings. There are so many different kinds of people that aren't represented, that don't have characters who look like them.

Movies may be as close to a document of our national culture as there is; they're supposed to represent what we believe ourselves to be. So when you don't see yourself at all - or see yourself erased - that hurts.

I want women and girls of African descent and of color to be able to not have to keep searching for stories about themselves.

It's hard as a young person of a different ethnicity or background to look at the TV and not see anyone who looks like you. Representation is very important.

It's important to read books and see people who look like you. It helps you know that you are not the only one or the weird one because you're a black girl and you are not seeing anyone who looks like you in these books.