LOS ANGELES _ On Sunday, "The Farewell" actress became the first woman of Asian descent to win the award for lead actress in a movie comedy/musical.
Written and directed by Lulu Wang, "The Farewell" marked the dramatic lead debut for the actress, who was born Nora Lum. In the acclaimed film, Awkwafina plays Billi, an American woman whose family has chosen to keep the truth of a terminal diagnosis from her grandmother in China.
"I would never have expected something like this to happen, especially when we were filming," Awkwafina told The Times after her nomination was announced last month. "We just wanted to tell the story. So to see that it's getting recognition ... is really awesome."
Awkwafina is the second woman of Asian descent to be nominated in the category in two years. Last year, her "Crazy Rich Asians" costar Constance Wu was nominated for lead actress in a movie comedy/musical. (Olivia Colman won that year for her performance in "The Favourite"). Sandra Oh had a historic win at the 2019 Golden Globes, taking home the award for lead actress in a TV drama for her work on "Killing Eve," making her the first actor of Asian descent to win multiple Golden Globes (Oh was previously recognized in the TV supporting actress category for her work on "Grey's Anatomy").
The other nominees were Ana de Armas ("Knives Out"), Cate Blanchett ("Where'd You Go, Bernadette"), Beanie Feldstein ("Booksmart") and Emma Thompson ("Late Night").
