43 Facts About Thuy Trang

Thuy Trang was known for her role as Trini Kwan, the original Yellow Ranger on the original cast of the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

When Thuy Trang was six, she and her mother and brothers boarded a cargo ship bound for Hong Kong, a difficult journey during which Thuy Trang became very ill.

Thuy Trang enrolled at the University of California, Irvine to study civil engineering, but switched her focus to acting after a talent scout spotted her.

Thuy Trang was chosen for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, her first major role, after participating in an audition process that included about 500 actresses.

Thuy Trang appeared in 80 episodes in the series, which included the entire first season, and the first twenty episodes of the second.

Thuy Trang performed many of her own stunts, and repeatedly got hurt on the set.

Thuy Trang left Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the middle of the second season, along with fellow cast members Austin St John and Walter Emanuel Jones, due to contractual and payment disputes and was replaced by Karan Ashley as a new Yellow Ranger named Aisha Campbell.

Thuy Trang had a brief appearance in the film Spy Hard, and played one of the lead villains in the film The Crow: City of Angels.

Thuy Trang had planned to appear in several films along with St John and Jones, but none were ultimately made.

Thuy Trang was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on December 14,1973, to father Ky Trang and mother Be Trang.

In 1979 when Thuy Trang was five, she and her family secretly boarded a cargo ship bound for Hong Kong.

Thuy Trang went long periods of time without eating and fell ill, with her mother having to force food down her throat while she was unconscious to keep her alive.

At one point, the other passengers wrongly believed Thuy Trang to be dead and wanted to throw her body overboard to make more room for the other refugees, but her mother prevented them from doing so.

Thuy Trang did not speak English upon first arriving in the United States and had to learn it.

Thuy Trang began studying Shaolin kung fu, and eventually received a black belt.

Thuy Trang graduated from Banning High School in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles, and enrolled at the University of California, Irvine to study civil engineering, planning to follow her father and siblings into the field.

Thuy Trang's hobbies included playing tennis, jogging, and reading romance novels.

Thuy Trang switched her focus to acting after a chance run in with a talent scout while hanging out with friends.

Thuy Trang earned her first major role in 1993, as Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger in the original cast of the TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Thuy Trang's agent arranged for her to participate in an audition process that included about 500 actresses of various races.

Wallin told Thuy Trang to run into the room screaming, jump onto the audition table, and perform a karate move.

Thuy Trang did so, then quietly stepped off the table, did her reading, and walked out of the room.

The role was originated by actress Audri Dubois in the pilot episode before Thuy Trang took over the part.

Thuy Trang appeared in 80 episodes in the series, which included the entire first season and a portion of the second season.

Thuy Trang jogged and exercised regularly during her time on the show to stay in shape, and received training from martial arts experts on the set, including Jason David Frank.

Thuy Trang became close friends with co-star Amy Jo Johnson, and the two would often have slumber parties at each other's houses.

Thuy Trang repeatedly got hurt on the set of the show, and often had to be physically carried by others during shooting because of injuries.

Thuy Trang left Power Rangers in the middle of the second season, along with fellow cast members Austin St John and Walter Emanuel Jones, due to contractual and payment disputes.

Archival and deleted footage of St John, Jones, and Thuy Trang were used in these episodes.

Thuy Trang was replaced as the Yellow Ranger by Karan Ashley, who was chosen from an audition process that included 4,000 actors in five cities seeking the three vacated roles.

Thuy Trang made cameo appearances in martial arts videos made by St John and Jones.

Thuy Trang made a guest appearance at the Little Saigon Tet Festival, an event honoring Vietnamese culture, in Westminster, California, on February 4,1995.

Thuy Trang's first film role was a manicurist in the 1996 movie Spy Hard.

Thuy Trang was mistakenly credited as playing a masseuse in the film; her screen credit was accidentally switched with Tara Leon, who played a masseuse in the same short scene but was credited as a manicurist.

Thuy Trang later played a lead villain, Kali, in the feature film The Crow: City of Angels, released in 1996.

Thuy Trang was not cast until very late in the pre-production process, right before filming began.

Thuy Trang played Kali, a member of a gang led by notorious drug kingpin Judah Earl, who killed the protagonist, mechanic Ashe Corven, and his eight-year-old son after they witnessed Judah's henchmen murdering a fellow drug dealer.

Thuy Trang's character was killed by a resurrected Corven after a fight scene.

Thuy Trang had planned to appear in several films in the mid-1990s along with her Power Rangers co-stars St John and Jones, including Cyberstrike, Act of Courage, and Children of Merlin, the latter of which was to be developed by Landmark Entertainment Group.

Additionally, Thuy Trang was expected to appear in a TV show called The Adventures of Tracie Z, which never came to fruition, though a pilot was apparently filmed.

On September 3,2001, the 27-year-old Thuy Trang was traveling with her friend, the actress and model Angela Rockwood, for whom Thuy Trang was to be a bridesmaid in her upcoming marriage to Dustin Nguyen.

Thuy Trang was way too young and had so much more to share with the world.

Thuy Trang's energy drew you in, and her smile made your heart feel safe.