Though more conversations are taking place all around Hollywood about inclusion in movies, the latest statistics continue to be pitiful.
A recent study out of USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism of the 1,100 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2017 shows little has changed over the past decade. As with many minority groups, Asian actors are woefully underrepresented on-screen, particularly in leading roles. Of the top 100 films in 2017, 65 had no speaking roles for Asian or Asian-American females.
The upcoming release “Crazy Rich Asians,” the buzzy adaptation of the first book in Kevin Kwan’s trilogy, stands as a notable exception. The movie, which hits U.S. theaters Aug. 15, features an ensemble of Asian actors from around the world. But in a cast of scene-stealers, it is Awkwafina (born Nora Lum), the internet personality, rapper and actress, who walks away with the most laughs.
It’s been a rapid ascension in the acting world for Awkwafina, who began rapping at age 13 and found fame with such songs as “My Vag” and her solo album “Yellow Ranger.” Earlier this year, she appeared in “Ocean’s 8” alongside Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett. Variety spoke with the 29-year-old multihyphenate about her early role models and the state of the industry.
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What can the industry do to make improvements in representing Asians on the big screen?
Representation starts both in front of and behind the camera. I think a big reason there aren’t a lot of our stories reflected is people don’t know how to write for us or think they can’t write for us. So I think for any minority group, you need to have writers who can reflect those stories and tell them honestly. It’s important to give people a chance. Take a chance on opening up roles, even leads, for actors of color.
Who are the Asian filmmakers and artists you’re watching right now?
I just came off a film written and directed by Lulu Wang. It doesn’t have a title yet, but it’s based on a story she told on “This American Life.” To work with an Asian-American woman at the helm and tell her story was an extremely powerful experience. And there’s an up-and-coming writer named Gloria Chao who wrote this book “American Panda” — she’s brilliant. There have always been Asian-American directors, but they don’t always get the opportunity to direct Asians, and I think this may be a different time for them.
What was it like to be working with an entirely Asian cast in a film?
It was amazing, and honestly, we became a family in a way I’ve never really experienced on a set before. From the moment the film was announced, I was just excited to see the movie come to fruition, whether or not I could be in it. I knew it would be impactful for my community.
CREDIT: SHAYAN ASGHARNIA for Variety
Growing up, did you have Asian actors you could look up to and emulate? Did you even think acting was a viable career choice?
Not at all. I remember watching “Air Bud” and thinking it would be so cool to be that kid and then realizing, “But how could that be? I wouldn’t make any sense in that context.” The first time I saw Margaret Cho on Comedy Central, she was like a unicorn. She was an Asian woman who had a perfect American accent, something I wasn’t used to seeing. And she was so funny and unashamed and bold. I remember thinking, “That is what I want to be.” Just seeing her made it seem slightly more possible. And then Lucy Liu in “Charlie’s Angels” and Michelle Yeoh in her action movies. When you don’t have representation growing up, you don’t know how to materialize your dreams. You don’t even know it’s possible.
So you launched a career by creating your own content and gave yourself opportunities. Did you think that would translate to movies?
No, never. Just in the last few years with the rise of YouTube, we’re seeing [that for] a lot of Asian-Americans, that’s their way in. There’s no gatekeeper; it’s fan-generated. But I never even thought I’d be doing that. At the same time, I had nothing to lose.
Who gave you your first big opportunity in film?
Seth Rogen and Nick Stoller. They had stumbled upon my first viral music video and asked me to audition for “Neighbors 2.” I got the part and showed up for this big movie with this amazing cast — it was ridiculous. I remember looking into the room and going, “This is crazy.” And it wasn’t specifically written for an Asian woman.
“When you don’t have representation growing up, you don’t know how to materialize your dreams. You don’t even know it’s possible.”
Awkwafina
Have you played many roles that weren’t written as an Asian character?
Some parts were written with me in mind, but outside of “Crazy Rich Asians,” I think almost all of them weren’t specifically Asian. At least that’s what I was told.
It’s hard for anyone to break in and find good, meaty roles, but add to that being a woman and a person of color, and it becomes even harder. How do you feel about the future of representation?
Hollywood is changing at a rapid pace in terms of the stories that are being told and the people being put in leading roles and the people writing and directing movies. More and more, I’m seeing stories like Lulu’s that are coming to me. So I think times are changing. And it really takes discussions about whitewashing to realize America is not one color. It’s a giant melting pot, and there are so many ways people can relate to movies, to music. I think Hollywood is realizing they can reflect that. And at the box office, the numbers are very impactful. They’re trying, and now that they know, they’re taking chances. I’m very optimistic about the changes to come.
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It’s a good thing for moviegoers that Nora Lum was, in her own words, “the worst” at her chosen art: playing the trumpet. “Oh my god, I was horrible,” says the Queens-born actress known as Akwkafina, calling from China in June, where she was filming an as-yet-untitled movie with director Lulu Wang. Though she attended New York City’s prestigious LaGuardia High School for performing arts (a.k.a. the Fame school) specifically to study the horn, the next Dizzy Gillespie she was not. Says Lum, “My dad went to a parent-teacher conference and my teacher told him, ‘Y’know, for some students, the best thing that ever happens to them is getting into LaGuardia.’”
Thankfully, for Lum, that turned out not to be true. Instead of ending up in a jazz quartet, she’s hit the big screen in two of this summer’s biggest films. To play stealthy pickpocket Constance in Ocean’s Eight, alongside Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett, she was paired with a sleight-of hand coach and became proficient enough that she can snatch the watch off your wrist. For her role in Crazy Rich Asians (opens today), the highly anticipated adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-seller set in high-society Singapore, no special training was necessary. She imbued her character Goh Peik Lin, the bottle-blonde bestie to the lovelorn Rachel (played by Constance Wu), with a hip-hop swagger and a Miley Cyrus-meets-New Jersey patois, and improvised her way to some of the movie’s biggest laughs. (See: her gleeful gatecrashing of a party at Rachel’s billionaire fiancé’s opulent family estate.) It’s a singular, unforgettable take on the often-forgettable BFF part.
So how’d she get from LaGuardia misfit to blockbuster breakout? The fastest route possible: YouTube. Despite her teacher’s bleak assessment of her musical talents, Lum channeled a love of hip-hop into songwriting, unwittingly launching her career with the 2012 release, at the urging of a friend, of her first rap video, “My Vag.” Thanks to lines like “My vag a chrome Range Rover, your vag hatchback ’81 Toyota,” it went viral (2,632,000 views and counting). And while it got Nora Lum fired from her job as a publicity assistant at a publishing company, it made Awkwafina an underground sensation.
“That is what I did right, in my whole life,” Lum says of posting the video. “I didn’t expect anything to happen. There was no game plan. I had nothing to lose, y’know. And to this day, everything that has happened to me — my first movie gig, my first non-music gig — was all from that.”
That’s not an oversimplification. When it came time to cast Crazy Rich Asians, director Jon M. Chu didn’t need an agent to slide him a Nora Lum headshot. “I’ve watched her for years on YouTube, in her rap videos, and she had a show where she interviewed people in a bodega,” Chu says. “I was always a fan but had nothing to put her in, because she’s just such a unique creature.” Though the character of Peik Lin is very different in the book than the one on-screen (“She comes from money, and that’s pretty much where the similarity ends,” he admits), once a friend brought up Awkwafina, “I couldn’t get her out of my head,” Chu says. “In a romantic comedy, you get very earnest, and you need someone who can pop it, who feels confident and different, not the same old sidekick.”
Chu was so sure that Lum was right for the role, he included her name in his pitch packet to Warner Bros. Not that he told her that. “We were coy with her,” he explains. “We had to do our due diligence and see everybody, but ultimately we knew she would hit it out of the park.” He even had screenwriter Adele Lim start writing to her voice long before she was cast. “With Awkwafina, I didn’t want to give her an accent, I didn’t want to lay anything on top of her spirit,” he says. “She’s a truth-teller. I wanted her to be the funniest, harshest she could be.”
With that goal in mind, Chu also gave Lum free rein to improvise — a privilege she ran with. The result: Some of Crazy Rich Asians’ most uproarious scenes and, Lum notes with a mixture of pride and sheepishness, the movie’s only F-word. She apologized right after it slipped out, but Chu says the take was just too funny to cut. “The cool thing is that Peik Lin was literally born on-screen,” Lum says. “Jon was never trying to steer me. A lot of times you do improv and it just goes into the heavens, but a lot of it made it into the film, and that was really, really cool.”
In conversation, Lum toggles between the laid-back, unfiltered wisecracking Awkwafinatics love and a more contemplative, sincere side that may surprise those who only know her on-screen persona. Despite her bottle-rocket rise to fame, she still feels very much connected to the struggling twentysomething who just a few years ago took jobs at a video store and a sushi restaurant to pay the rent while she worked on her music and honed her comedic persona through her Verizon Go90 variety show, Tawk. Filmed in New York City delis and subway cars, it featured skits and interviews with comedians such as Pete Davidson and Hasan Minhaj, as well as a regular segment starring her sassy grandmother, whom she dubbed “Grandmafina.” When she’s not on location in Barcelona (for the upcoming boarding school-set fantasy Paradise Hills) or walking a red carpet in Hollywood, she returns to the same Greenpoint, Brooklyn, apartment she’s been living in for years.
“It’s rent-controlled,” says Lum, an only child who, after her mother died when Lum was four, was raised largely by Grandmafina. “Sometimes I’m sitting on my toilet, looking at my bathroom, and I’m like, I can’t believe this is my house, dude. This house is fucking gross.” Laughing, she rattles off a laundry list of its lowlights, including “foam, office-tile” ceilings and a secondhand Ikea futon, adding, “I need to upgrade.”
She’s had a few flashes of amazement at the turn her life has taken, like when she was shooting a scene for Ocean’s with Rihanna in Manhattan and realized she was across the street from the publishing house that had axed her. “Moments like that, I know I can tell myself, You’re OK now,” she says. But then she quickly reverses course: “The funny thing is, I never feel OK. Like everyone says, ‘This is the best year of your life! Your life is never going to have any stumbles [after] this!’ But I don’t want to think like that.”
To that end, she’s something of a workaholic. In addition to filming three movies set to bow in 2019 (or recording, in the case of The Angry Birds Movie 2), Awkwafina is fine-tuning her sophomore album, the follow-up to 2014’s Yellow Ranger. She considers music her first — and longest-running — love. “I’ve been with hip-hop since I was extremely young,” Lum says. “J Dilla, DJ Rashad, I worshipped these people. I had a Mac Book and GarageBand and started producing beats when I was 16 years old. By the time I was 18, I had 500, 600 songs I had produced or sung or rapped on, sitting on a hard drive.” Even now, making beats is her escape, the first place she turns for relaxation when she gets back to her hotel after a long day on set.
“People think I’m a parody rapper, like a Weird Al type, but the tragic thing is, I would love to be considered a serious musician,” she says. “Then I did a song called ‘Queef’ and that kind of shattered it. But that’s how it goes.”
That mix of drive and humility served Lum well on the Crazy Rich Asians set. Despite her being relatively inexperienced and self-conscious at the start of filming, Chu says Lum attacked the role, going “all-out” to bring Peik Lin to life. “It was so fun to watch her grow and gain confidence,” he says, “to see an artist become the artist throughout a shoot.” But as much as he’s a fan of what Awkwafina brought to the role, Chu appreciates Nora more. “She’s the kindest, nicest person. Yes, she’s always ranting about one thing or another, but the other side of her is what I love most, actually,” Chu says. “She’s an observer, soaking everything in at every moment. It seems like she’s always talking, but actually she’s always listening. You can tell because she says brilliant stuff that you can’t know if you’re just always ‘on.’ So my favorite part of her is her sensitivity and her anxiousness, because you know there’s a real person there.”
At first glance, fans of Awkwafina may not recognize her in Crazy Rich Asians. In this month’s blockbuster romcom, the viral YouTube rapper-turned-movie star (born Nora Lum) wears a short blonde wig to play wisecracking best friend Peik Lin — a far cry from the long, black mane she usually sports. (“Asian Ellen,” a family member quips about the look in the movie.)
But from the moment the comedian opens her mouth and drops a stream of pithy one-liners, it’s abundantly clear that it’s her. “People have an idea of what Peik Lin looks like and how she behaves,” Lum recently says by phone, referring to the major fanbase the Crazy Rich Asians book series had well before it was turned into Hollywood’s first all-Asian ensemble film in 25 years. “I hope I did her justice!” (The movie isn’t even out yet, and it already has rave reviews, nearly all of which praise Lum’s performance.)
As for her hairstyling, Lum is thrilled to rock the “Ellen” onscreen. “When people come up to me and say, ‘You got that stick straight [hair], right?’ They just assume that all Asian hair is one, and it’s not,” says the actress and ambassador for Johnnie Walker, which partnered with the premiere party. “I have my mother’s hair, which is kind of wiry but frizzy — there’s a natural wave to it. Asian hair comes in different styles, and sometimes there is a yearning for a different kind.”
RELATED: Constance Wu on Why Crazy Rich Asians Is a Modern-Day Feminist Fairytale
Courtesy Warner Bros.
Ahead of the movie’s release today, Lum got candid about Asian hair, a potential Oscar nomination, and the cast’s group text. (Yes, it exists.)
On her moniker… A reporter once asked me, “Did you derive your name from the word ‘awkward’?” And I guess I did! Being awkward is not only part of my entire life, but it’s my brand. It was a happy accident. Thank you, journalism!
On Awkwafina v. Nora… There’s definitely a duality going on. Awkwafina is not something I invented — she’s an inherent part of me. Awkwafina represents someone who never grew up, with abject confidence that helps me when I feel self-conscious or I feel nervous or neurotic. I think that everyone has an Awkwafina inside them, someone that tells them, “Just do it. And do it well.” Without her, I could never perform onstage.
On playing Peik Lin… Peik Lin embodies a lot of what Awkwafina embodies. She has that confidence of her own identity. That’s why this movie and book is so powerful: Everyone struggles with inter-Asian politics. In America, people think that we go to Asia and we’re the same there, but that’s not the case. Also, Peik Lin is a good friend. I really try to be a Peik Lin to my friends.
RELATED: Crazy Rich Asians Star Henry Golding Says It's Fair to Question His Casting
Courtesy Warner Bros.
On wearing a wig… It’s not the easiest. I had never worn one before — I didn’t understand what wig glue was. If I wig-glued myself, I would have no hair. No eyebrows either. But I came to love it because, whenever I put it on, I felt like Peik Lin. Plus, I was easy to spot. I was the only one without black hair. It made me really think about embracing that color.
On wearing her hair natural in day-to-day life… It’s not so much about me making a statement as me being completely lazy. I don’t pay attention to it. It’s not something on my radar. I shampoo and condition, and sometimes it comes in one bottle, and that’s what I do.
On perms… The Asian perm is a thing. My grandma has had her hair permed since the ‘70s because she wanted a different texture. I always wanted to get my hair straightened, but I could never afford it. When we were filming in Singapore, I decided to treat myself after we wrapped, so I went and got my hair relaxed. It was such a big event for me. Then I felt like it was too relaxed, like, I wanted to wake it up a bit, so I just kind of had to sit with it for a while. In the end, it worked out.
On bonding with the cast… I compare it to adult summer camp. We did everything. Henry Golding and Ronnie Chieng both grew up in Singapore, so they were our little tour guides. Ronnie would yell at me for wanting to eat chilis and Henry would take me to the bird park, where I got crapped on. There were a lot of really great memories.
VIDEO: 'Crazy Rich Asians' Red Carpet Premiere Celebrity Arrivals
On the Crazy Rich Asians group text… It bleeds from WhatsApp into iMessage. There are multiple, and they’re all called crazy things. One is called “CRA House of Love.” That’s exactly what that sounds like.
On a potential Oscar nomination… Yeah right. I don’t think that’s gonna happen, but if it does, that would be amazing. [Director] John Chu really trusted me to do whatever with Peik Lin — he said that it could’ve ruined the movie or made it better. Hopefully I didn’t ruin it.
On celebrating the movie’s success… Being at the premiere with members of the community was amazing. There was an aspect of solidarity, there was an aspect of celebration, there was an aspect of a bittersweetness. It was a very emotional night. I cried several times. But don’t get me wrong — I’ve been popping all the bottles. I got blue, I got black. It’s time for celebration! It’s been a long ride and a great ride.
Awkwafina has penned a heartfelt message about the importance of taking risks while reflecting on the all rejection she faced during her rise to fame.
The 29-year-old, whose real name is Nora Lum, took to Twitter this week to share screengrabs of the message she typed out on her cellphone while on her way to the Los Angeles premiere of her new film Crazy Rich Asians, which is based on the 2013 novel by Kevin Kwan.
'Thank you guys for believing in Awkwafina,' she tweeted along with her message in which she admits she was considered a 'joke' before she hit it big.
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Looking back: Awkwafina, 29, took to Twitter this week to reflect on all the rejection she faced before she made it big
Back in the day: The actress, whose real name is Nora Lum, recounted how her 2012 song My Vag made her a 'laughing stock of ever job interview ever' and even got her fired
Heartbreak: The rapper recalled how she thought her meeting with an music exec was going to be her big break, but he never called her again
'In 2012 I put a video called My Vag on YouTube, knowing that it probably wouldn't do well - and it would make me the laughing stock of every job interview ever,' the rapper recounted.
'I wrote a song called NYC B*****s while making $9'hr at a vegan bodega. After it went on YouTube, a man came in asked if I was Awkwafina - it made me so happy.'
The actress went on to recall how thought her dreams were coming true when an A&R exec at a major record label wanted to meet with her.
Thinking this was her big break, she listened to Dreams by Fleetwood Mac on the way to the meeting, but he listened to just two of her songs and never called her again.
She's made it: Awkwafina listened to Dreams by Fleetwood Mac while on her way to the Crazy Rich Asians premiere
Breakout star: Awkwafina is one of the stars of the film, which is based on 2013 novel by Kevin Kwan
Glamorous: Awkwafina stunned in a pale pink silk gown at the Hollywood premiere last week
'Five years later, I'm in an Escalade in a gown, driving down Hollywood Blvd that they shut down for Crazy Rich Asians,' she wrote. 'And I asked the driver for the aux to play Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. I became teary, thinking about this moment, what it meant.'
Awkwafina continued her message by recalling how she was fired from her job as a New York publicist after her boss found out she had written a rap called My Vag in 2012.
While she had to work a string of side gigs after being laid off from her corporate job, her career ultimately took off thanks to the video, which went viral and has now been viewed more than two million times on YouTube.
'I remembered those days when I got fired from my job for Awkwafina, when I was broke for Awkwafina, when I got kicked off line-ups because "Awkwafina is a joke." Awkwafina was a dream I was chasing, and in some ways, I am still chasing her. But we need to take risks,' she wrote.
Staying true to herself: At the end of the post, she opened up about how she proved her critics wrong
Success: The viral music video for My Vag has been viewed more than two million time and ultimately launched Awkwafina's career
Dream come true: Awkwafina got to work with hero Margaret Cho when they collaborated on the song Green Tea in 2016
'We need to go broke. We need to prove them wrong, simply by not giving up. Awkwafina wasn't supposed to exist, but somehow she does,' the actress added.
'And I think about it every day, that she was born for one reason only - to show every person out there, that it is possible.'
The New York City native, who started rapping when she was 13 years old, has gone from internet personality to bonafide star.
In addition to her role in Crazy Rich Asians, she appeared alongside Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett in Ocean's 8 and dropped a new EP titled In Fina We Trust to coincide with the film's release.
Star: Awkwafina is also a part of Modcloth's new Say It Louder campaign, which highlights bold women like herself
Advice: She said she would tell her younger self that she 'may feel like you're super weird right now, but later it'll pay off'
Awkwafina is also a part of Modcloth's new Say It Louder campaign, which highlights bold women like herself who have forged their own paths.
She took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a photo from the campaign while revealing what she would say to her younger self.
'Advice to my younger self: "it’s gonna be okay, and you may feel like you’re super weird right now, but later it’ll pay off... whatever dreams or boundaries you set upon yourself - real life can be so much bigger than that,' she wrote.
While speaking with ModCloth, Awkwafina explained that comedian Margaret Cho is one of her biggest inspirations, and she recalled seeing her stand up act when she was just seven years old.
'Seeing a woman being unashamed, Say It Louder hilarious, with a perfect command of the English language was something that I'd never seen before and without that I would not have known that this could be a possible career path for me,' she said.
Comedian: The actress explained that she 'learned humor as a defense mechanism to fend off embarrassment'
Winning: Awkwafina said that she hopes to inspire other people by being her authentic self because that is when she found success
Awkwafina actually got to work with Margaret when they collaborated on the song Green Tea in 2016, and while she is a comedian in her own right, she admitted that she didn't always see herself as one.
'I don't think I ever really realized that, like, oh, I'm a comedian,' she said. 'I think comedy and humor was an emotion that I developed; it was something that I never really had to learn, and I think that it came mostly out of a traumatic event, my mother's passing when I was four.
'Not to go too deep, but one of the first emotions I ever learned was embarrassment and I learned humor as a defense mechanism to fend off embarrassment,' she added. 'I would use humor to stop people from crying. I would use it to entertain people.'
Awkwafina said that she hopes to inspire other people by being her authentic self.
'I think that a lot of people think that being themselves is not enough and for me that's always kind of been my thought process,' she explained. 'Until I embraced my flaws, and my quirks, and all that, is when I found success and inner happiness.'
