Maria Tran

In 2023, she portrayed "Madame Tien" in the Paramount+ television series Last King of the Cross. She also served as producer, director, and lead actor in Echo 8, a microbudget community-led action film. She has won awards such as the Breakout Female Performer award at the International Action on Film Festival and the 2016 Female Action Performer of the Year at MartialCon.

• Name — Maria Tran • Birth Name — Trần Vũ Hồng Phương • Born — January 30, 1985 • Birthplace — Brisbane, Australia • Website — mariatran.co • Education — Western Sydney University, Bachelor of Psychology • Spouse — Takashi Hara • Occupation — Actress, director, producer

Born in Brisbane, Australia, Tran's parents were refugees, who fled Vietnam in the 1980s. Her father was a former soldier in the South Vietnamese Army, and her mother worked in publicity. Her family moved to Sydney before settling in Brisbane, where they opened a fish-and-chip shop. Tran attended Dinmore State School and Camira State School before moving to Sydney and attending Villawood Public School, Fairfield West Public School, Westfields Sports High School, Sunnybank State High School, and Canley Vale High School. She left home at 16 and moved back to Brisbane. She returned to Sydney a year later to finish school, where she graduated in 2002 from Canley Vale High School. She later attended the University of Western Sydney, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Psychology in 2007.

Tran first became involved in filmmaking in 2007 through a community filmmaking workshop, and later became a coordinator and educator working with culturally diverse and at-risk youth. She went on to serve as a community arts trainer for several local councils in Western Sydney and was a guest lecturer in filmmaking and digital media at the Australian National University. In 2013, Tran directed her first theatre production, Press Play, and from 2013 to 2015, she held the role of Vice-President (External Affairs) for the Vietnamese Community of Australia in New South Wales. In 2019, she was selected as an Australian representative for the Australia–Vietnam Leadership Dialogue.

Tran's first acting role was in Australia's first kung fu comedy, Downtown Rumble, in 2008, followed by her first TV role on the ABC Logie TV series My Place, Channel 7's Australia: The Story of US, and Channel 9's Love Child. Tran self-produced, directed, and acted in the action comedy Hit Girls, co-starring Juju Chan. She received the 2016 Breakout Female Action Performer of the Year at the Action On Film International Film Festival. After Hit Girls, she worked on Roger Corman's movie Fist of the Dragon, directed by Antony Szeto, starring Josh Thomson, and filmed in Guangzhou, China. In 2015, Tran played the female antagonist "Phuong Lua" in the Vietnamese blockbuster Truy Sat In 2018, Tran was cast as the comedic Tiger wife "Trans Phat" in Streets Smart, and the following year she was cast as nun-chuck wielding "Susie" in Fat Pizza: Back In Business. During the COVID pandemic, Tran was commissioned by Diversity Arts Australia through their program "I am Not A Virus" to produce 1 in response to the anti-Asian sentiment during that period. In March 2022 it was reported that Tran joined the cast of the show Last King of the Cross. The same year she acted in the film Suka and The Gift that Gives.

Tran is married to Japanese actor Takashi Hara. She lives in Sydney, Australia and Las Vegas, Nevada.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2008 — Downtown Rumble — Apprentice — Main cast • 2009 — My Place — Thi Mai — 1 episode • 2015 — Australia: The Story of Us — Vietnamese Mother — 1 episode • 2015 — How Not to Behave — Beach Girl — 2 episodes • 2015 — Love Child — Hoang — Supporting cast (season 3) • 2017 — Tiger Cops — Tiger — Main cast • 2018 — Street Smart — Trans Phat — 8 episodes, Supporting cast • 2019–21 — Fat Pizza: Back In Business — Suzie — 4 episodes, Supporting cast • 2019 — Deadly Women — Thi — 1 episode • 2019 — Nightwalkers — Flashback Vamp — 1 episode • 2023 — Local Council — Kara — 2 episodes, Supporting cast • 2023 — Last King of the Cross — Tran Cat Tien — Main cast