Karrueche Tran

Karrueche Tran (/kəˈruːtʃi ˈtræn/ kə-ROO-chee TRAN; born May 17, 1988) is an American actress and model. From 2013 to 2016, she starred as Vivian Johnson in the web series The Bay.She is best known as Virginia Loc on TNT's series Claws.

Tran was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. by her Vietnamese mother and Jamaican godmother. Her father is African-American. Tran identifies herself as both Asian and Black, although her racial identity has come under fire. Tran first attended high school at Fairfax High School before switching schools, graduating from Birmingham High School in 2006.

Early career and The Bay: 2009–2014

Tran began her career in the fashion industry as a personal shopper. From 2009–2012, she worked at Nordstrom located at the Westfield Topanga mall in Canoga Park, CA. Later, Tran worked as a freelance celebrity stylist in Hollywood. She first gained public attention when she began dating R&B artist Chris Brown in 2010.

At the same time, Tran began modeling by participating in photoshoots for local brands, posing as the face of Lady Crooks, the women's division under the streetwear brand Crooks and Castles for their Summer 2013 collection. She also began working on her own clothing line, The Kill.Tran gained wider prominence after starring as Vivian Johnson on the Emmy award-winning web series The Bay from 2013 to 2016. For producing the series, she won two Daytime Emmy Awards.

In 2014, Tran appeared in volume one of the photography book, Love West Coast Girls, by celebrity photographer Mike Miller. That same year, she hosted the BET Awards red carpet and multiple events during the official BET Weekend. She had previously co-hosted the BET show 106 & Park.Tran's TV One movie, The Fright Nite Files, was screened that year.

Film and television roles: 2015–present

In 2015, Tran was featured in the Spring/Summer lookbook for French-based athletic brand Le Coq Sportif. She also appeared on the covers of several magazines, including Rolling Out, Flaunt Magazine, Ouch Magazine, The Hundreds, Cliche Magazine, Bleu Magazine and Annex Magazine, including two feature stories on ELLE.com.Her work led her to a contract with Wilhelmina Models LA in 2015.

Tran's first featured film, 3-Headed Shark Attack, was released that summer, followed by the lead in the short film PrXde. She later gained recognition for her performance as Vanessa Ivy in the fashion web series by StyleHaul titled Vanity, sponsored by the makeup brand Maybelline.

After supporting roles in A Weekend with the Family and The Nice Guys, Tran landed the lead in Only for One Night, portraying Chloe, a married woman whose perfect life deals with betrayal when her sister drugs her husband and sleeps with him. All three movies were released in 2016.That same year, she partnered up with ColourPop Cosmetics to release the limited edition cosmetic collaboration, KaePop.

After her departure from The Bay, Tran began co-starring in TNT Claws (2017), a TV series about five diverse manicurists working at the Nail Artisan of Manatee County salon in South Florida. Tran was selected for her ability to bring "a layer [...] that wasn’t one note" to the character, according to showrunner Janine Sherman Barrois.

In October 2019, it was announced that Tran had joined the cast FOX's Deputy in a recurring role playing Genevieve.

Tran began dating R&B artist Chris Brown in 2010. The couple briefly broke up when Brown reconciled with his ex-girlfriend, singer-songwriter Rihanna. After the latter's relationship ended, Brown and Tran continued their relationship but split after it was revealed in March 2015 that Brown had a daughter, Royalty, with Nia Guzman.In February 2017, Tran was granted a temporary 100-yard restraining order against Brown, and was eventually granted a 5-year restraining order against the singer.She began dating former football player Victor Cruz in 2017. Tran is a Christian and has stated,

This is about recognizing my mistakes and learning from them.... I own up to all the poor choices I have made and pray for the better. I pray everyday to God to strengthen me as a human and a young woman.