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May 7, 2024 · Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, is an actress and comedian famous for starring in 'Crazy Rich Asians,' 'Ocean's 8' and 'The Farewell.'.
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Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress and rapper. She has played supporting roles in the comedy films Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and her leading role in the comedy-drama The Farewell (2019) earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress nomination.
- June 2, 1988
- Overview
- Early life and education
- “My Vag”
- Early comedic roles
- The Farewell
- Nora from Queens, The Little Mermaid, and films from the 2020s
- Controversy
Awkwafina (born June 2, 1988, Stony Brook, New York, U.S.) 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 Ri...
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.
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 st...
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...
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.
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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 v...
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 an...
- Suzan Colón
Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress and rapper. She has played supporting roles in the comedy films Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and her leading role in the comedy-drama The Farewell (2019) earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress nomination.
- January 1, 1
- 1.55 m
- New York City, New York, USA
Jul 22, 2019 · Awkwafina's Digital Revolution: How a YouTube Rapper Became a Star. When people describe the power of the American dream, they often tell it as a rags-to-riches story. In some instances, this...
Jan 8, 2020 · Not only is Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens a win for Asian American representation (Asian Americans are underrepresented in film and television, per The New York Times), but it's also notable because it has an all-female writer's room. According to Awkwafina, this wasn't a deliberate move.
May 11, 2021 · Awkwafina | BIO Shorts | Biography. The actress is a big fan of her Grandma... and her Grandma's cooking. Learn more about Awkwafina's unique bond with her grandmother. #Biography ...more. The...
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- Biography
