Vy Le "Levy" Tran (born April 8, 1983) is a
Vietnamese-American
Vietnamese Americans () are Americans of Vietnamese people, Vietnamese ancestry. They constitute a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. As of 2023, over 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent live in the United States, making them the fourth ...
actress and model.
Early life
Vy Le Tran was born in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
, U.S., to
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
ese parents.
She can speak English and
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...
.
After graduating from
Piedmont Hills High School, she received a Bachelor's degree in Child and Adolescent Development while minoring in mathematics.
Afterwards, she worked at a funeral home as an embalmer in 2011.
Career
In 2011, Tran pursued a modeling career, and after doing commercials decided to move to Los Angeles in 2012.
Tran then became successful in modeling as a top
Asian female model. Tran modeled for top brands like ''Inked Magazine'', ''Glass Magazine'' and ''Tattoo Life''.
She stated that her favorite
tattoo
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...
on her body is her
zombie
A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...
tattoo because of its artistry, but partially regrets her first tattoo she got when she was 18 years old.
In 2012, Levy made her first television debut on
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
's ''Guy Code'' as a guest host. In 2013, Tran was involved in a controversial music video called "Asian Girlz" created by Day Above Ground.
Tran quickly apologized for the music video stating: “I sincerely apologize to all who feels that I set Asian women back 50 yrs. I know I lost respect from a lot of ppl
ic It wasn't my intention.
..It was meant to be light hearted and fun. Satirical. They are sweet boys and not at all racist. That is all I will say. I'm sorry once again.”
In 2015, Levy played the role of the race starter in ''
Furious 7
''Furious 7'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 7'') is a 2015 action film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013) and '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) and the seventh i ...
''. She was later voted as one of the most beautiful women of the ''
Fast & Furious
''Fast & Furious'', also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'', is an American Action film, action media franchise centered on a series of films revolving around street racing, heist film, heists, and spy film, spies. The franchise also inclu ...
'' franchise.
She later went on to have appearances on the television series
Jungle Justice
Jungle justice (also known as mob justice or street justice) is a form of extrajudicial punishment carried out by angry mobs or vigilante groups against individuals accused of crimes. The attacks involve the public humiliation, physical assault, or ...
in 2015, and later starred in the films ''Female Fight Squad'' and ''The Unwilling''. Tran went on to appear in several other television series, including playing Lip's sex partner and coworker Eddie in season 8 of ''
Shameless''. Levy then went on to play the role of Roenick in the 2018 film ''
The First Purge
''The First Purge'' is a 2018 American dystopian action horror film directed by Gerard McMurray and starring Y'lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Joivan Wade, and Steve Harris. Written and co-executive produced by James DeMonaco, it is the first fil ...
'' and also appeared as Trish Park in the 2018
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series ''
The Haunting of Hill House''.
Levy was cast to play operative Desiree "Desi" Nguyen in the final eight episodes for season three of ''
MacGyver
Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...
'' in 2019.
Tran said that she enjoys her role as Desi, and was excited for season four.
In June 2019, Tran was officially confirmed as a main cast member for season four of ''MacGyver''.
Personal life
Tran is very dedicated to her fitness.
Tran has also stated "I want to start a movement of new age housewives where you have women with dyed hair, piercings, and tattoos who are very traditional in a household kind of setting."
Tran is known to be a dog lover, and she has owned a
Basset Hound
The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of scent hound. The Basset Hound was developed in Great Britain from several now-extinct strains of France, French basset breeds. It was bred primarily for hunting rabbit and hare on foot, moving slowly en ...
named Carlos since 2013.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Levy
Living people
1983 births
21st-century American actresses
American models of Vietnamese descent
American film actresses
American female models
Female models from California
Actors from San Jose, California
San Jose State University alumni