Awkwafina said it was a “mind-blowing” experience to learn she had made Golden Globes history.
On Sunday night, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded the new star with the Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. Awkwafina is the first Asian-American woman to win the award.
She won for her starring performance in director Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell.” Before that, Awkwafina was probably best known for the humorous character she played in 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians. She also co-starred in the all-female Ocean’s Eight from 2018.
Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for “The Farewell” at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Awkwafina believes she still has more to prove.
“It feels incredible,” she said. “There’s also another feeling that you are going to do more. I hope this is just the beginning.”
In “The Farewell” Awkwafina plays a young woman of a Chinese family with a secret. They are trying to keep the family’s grandmother from learning that she has cancer.
Awkwafina said she could really connect with the movie.
“Immigrants in this country who were raised to feel very American … and when we go back where, you know, we’re told that you don’t belong here and you go back to where you belong…you feel like a stranger there and this constant feeling of being lost in translation. And I think that’s what really resonated with me in The Farewell.”
Awkwafina’s real name is Nora Lum. She was born in New York in 1988. She got her start in entertainment in hip-hop music. In 2014, she released her first professional rap album, Yellow Ranger. Another, In Fina We Trust, came out in 2018.
Is an Oscar nomination next for the 31-year-old singer and actor? It is hard to say, but her Golden Globe win may improve her chances.
I’m Caty Weaver.
The Associated Press reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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Words in This Story
constant –adj. happening all the time or very often over a period of time
lost in translation –phrase to fail to have the same meaning or effectiveness (of something) when it is translated into another language
character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show
incredible – adj. extremely good, great, or large
resonate –v. to have particular meaning or importance for someone : to affect or appeal to someone in a personal or emotional way — usually + with