Awkwafina

Awkwafina (born June 2, 1988, Stony Brook, New York, U.S.) is an American comedian, actress, and rapper known for her low raspy voice, explicit comedy raps, and quick delivery of comedic one-liners. After she posted her rap song “My Vag” on YouTube in 2012, her fame steadily rose, and she soon landed parts in such movies as Ocean’s Eight (2018), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and The Farewell (2019).

Early life and education

Nora Lum was born to a Chinese American father, Wally, and South Korean mother, Tia. When Lum was four years old, her mother died of pulmonary hypertension, and Lum’s grandmother, Powah, consequently moved to Queens, New York, to help raise Lum. Later, she would credit her grandmother’s strong personality and love of humour, including bawdy jokes, as being an influence on her comedy.

In her teenage years, Lum gravitated toward music. She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, New York, also the alma mater of Friends star Jennifer Aniston, actor Timothée Chalamet, and rapper Nicki Minaj. There Lum played the trumpet and trained in jazz and classical music. During this time, Lum was given the nickname “Awkwafina” by a friend, and she began developing a persona that was brash and outspoken. After LaGuardia, Lum attended the University at Albany, State University of New York, where she majored in journalism and women’s studies. She then studied Mandarin at the Beijing Language and Culture University in China. When Lum came back to New York, she worked as an assistant in book publicity.

“My Vag”

Lum’s focus turned toward hip-hop and rap. In 2012 she uploaded a music video to YouTube for her rap song “My Vag” under the name Awkwafina. The rap featured her tongue-in-cheek combination of explicit comedy and gangster rap culture. The video went viral, and Awkwafina, who had left book publicity and was working as a cashier in a vegan grocery store, got her first booking for a comedy show. Her next rap song was “NYC Bitche$,” released in 2013, and the following year, she released an album, Yellow Ranger, which features her signature explicit comedic and satirical raps. Her profile continued to rise in 2014 when she landed a spot in the MTV comedy series Girl Code. In 2015 she wrote Awkwafina’s NYC, an irreverent guide to her favourite parts of New York City.

Early comedic roles

After establishing herself as a rapper and comedian, Awkwafina expanded into acting. In 2016 she had a supporting role in the movie Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, and she provided the voice of Quail in the animated feature film Storks. Her acting career soon took off with major roles in three 2018 films: Dude, a coming-of-age movie on Netflix; Ocean’s 8, an all-female variation of Ocean’s Eleven, the classic heist movie starring Frank Sinatra that was remade in the 21st century with George Clooney in the lead role; and Crazy Rich Asians, the film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan. That same year she also released her second rap album, In Fina We Trust, and became only the second Asian American woman to host the American comedy show Saturday Night Live since its premiere in 1975.

The Farewell

Awkwafina moved away from her usual comedic supporting roles in 2019 with a dramatic starring role in The Farewell, a poignant story of a family’s debate over whether to tell its matriarch that she is dying. Awkwafina received positive reviews for her portrayal of Billi, the conflicted granddaughter, and won a Golden Globe award for best actress in a musical or comedy for the role. She was the first Asian American to win a Golden Globe in that category.

Nora from Queens, The Little Mermaid, and films from the 2020s

In 2020 Awkwafina wrote and executive produced the Comedy Central series Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, in which she plays a fictionalized version of herself. Awkwafina’s star continued to rise in 2021 when she became part of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, starring with Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In 2023 Awkwafina portrayed a feisty police officer and the love interest to Dracula’s henchman (played by Nicholas Hoult) in the romantic comedy horror spoof Renfield. The following year she starred with John Cena in the action-comedy Jackpot!, playing a lottery winner who is hunted by those who want to kill her and claim the money.

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During this time Awkwafina also lent her voice to numerous films. These include Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid (2023); IF (2024), written and directed by John Krasinski; and Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024).

Controversy

In 2022 Awkwafina responded to the long-standing controversy over her adoption of African American Vernacular English in much of her work. In a post on Twitter, she wrote in part, “My immigrant background allowed me to carve an American identity off the movies and tv shows I watched, the children I went to public school with, and my undying love and respect for hip hop. I think as a group, Asian Americans are still trying to figure out what that journey means for them—what is correct and where they don’t belong.” Some critics, however, thought that her explanation did not sufficiently address the issue and called it a “non-apology.”