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New York Daily News

Now is Awkwafina’s time.
After a scene-stealing supporting role in Crazy Rich Asians, the rapper-turned-actress will debut as a film lead in her first drama, Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, which opens in the United States on Friday.
“I am not what you would think of when you think of a movie star. I don’t look like one. I don’t sound like one. I don’t act like one,” says Awkwafina, who was born Nora Lum.
“I want to show girls, young Asian-American girls, that you can be literally what you don’t see there and you can still do it,” she says. “You have to open the door for the next generation.”


As for The Farewell, Awkwafina, 31, says she “never thought a script like this could ever exist: one that was written by an Asian-American woman and directed by an Asian-American woman. I’d just never seen it.”
The film follows her character Billi, who leaves New York to visit her dying grandmother in Changchun, China. But Billi’s family has no intention of revealing to their matriarch the grim prognosis, and attributes the reunion to a last-minute wedding, spurring debates over morality and cultural identity.
I think the industry is moving toward a good spot where Asian people are seen now as people that can do other things
Awkwafina
“I think that any ‘dash American’ in this country feels always like one foot in the door, one foot outside the door,” says Awkwafina, who was born in the New York borough of Queens to a Korean mother and Chinese-American father. “You never feel like you belong to one or the other.”
The film’s portrayal of warring identities resonated with Awkwafina, who paraphrased journalist Jay Caspian Kang, saying: “The only thing that ties Asian-Americans together, because it’s such a broad category, is discrimination.”
“Everyone feels that,” she said. “Along with that, it’s the feeling of being an outsider.”

But as a staunch advocate of thoughtful Asian-American portrayals in media, Awkwafina refuses to encourage stereotypes, and says they are slowly becoming a thing of the past.
“I’m seeing scripts that have no descriptors of race, for small parts, for leads, for anything, or even sex, which is awesome,” she says. “I think the industry is moving toward a good spot where Asian people are seen now as people that can do other things.”
“I think when you first start out and you’re an artist, you want to be just known as an artist. You don’t want to have to be pigeonholed,” Awkwafina says. “And I think that that’s a real desire, but it’s not realistic when it comes to how you’re viewed by younger generations, by kids.”

No one can pigeon-hole Awkwafina, who added Saturday Night Live host to her résumé last year. She became the second Asian-American woman to host the show in its 44-year history, after actress Lucy Liu in 2000.
That brought her a memorable moment in her hometown, which is gratifying. Despite her work in Hollywood, Awkwafina remains a tried and true New Yorker.
“I 100 per cent will die in New York,” she declares. “But I feel like I should leave before I turn into that 85-year-old woman that’s talking about how much it’s changed. … I know I’m gonna be that woman, just let me get out for a little bit.”

As for where Awkwafina hopes to say her own farewell?
“I think I’d want to die just right on Madison Avenue,” she laughed.


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American cinema

‘Every Asian-American feels an outsider’: Awkwafina on The Farewell, her first leading role as an actress

New York-born comic, rapper and actress Awkwafina, who has her first leading role in a film in The Farewell, opening on Friday in the US. Photo: Brian Ach/Invision/AP

Actor Awkwafina, actor Hong Lu, writer-director Lulu Wang, actor Tzi Ma, actor Diana Lin and actor Aoi Mizuhara pose together at a special screening of "The Farewell" at Metrograph on Monday, July 8, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

This June 12, 2019 photo shows actress Awkwafina posing in New York to promote her film, "The Farewell." (Photo by Brian Ach/Invision/AP)

Jian Yongbo, Kmamura Aio, Chen Han, Tzi Ma, Awkwafina, Li Ziang, Tzi Ma, Lu Hong and Zhao Shuzhen appear in a still from "The Farewell." (Sundance Institute/Big Beach/TNS)

The Chinese film star China barely knows: Tsai Chin – Bond girl, Suzie Wong actress, daughter of Shanghai

Tsai Chin (centre) as Helen Rubinstein with Sara Ramirez (left), who plays Callie Torres, and Diahann Carroll (Jane Burke) in an episode of TV series Grey's Anatomy. Photo: ABC/Karen Neal

Tsai Chin and Sean Connery in a still from You Only Live Twice (1967)

Director Michelle Chen Miao (left) and Tsai Chin on the set of Daughter of Shanghai

Tsai Chin on the set of Daughter of Shanghai

Tsai Chin in the play M. Butterfly

From left: Daughter of Shanghai director Michelle Chen Miao, Sandra Oh, and co-director Hilla Medalia

Tsai Chin (second from right) in a family photo with mother Lilian Qiu and father Zhou Xinfang (centre)

Tsai Chin in a scene from the stage play The World of Suzie Wong, a hit in London’s West End in the late 1950s. It was the first show in the West End to star a Chinese actress – one of many firsts in Tsai’s career. Photo: Alamy

Meet Lauren Tsai, Terrace House star in Legion season 3 making her acting debut

Lauren Tsai as Switch in a still from Legion season 3. Photo: Pari Dukovic/FX

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HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 13: Lauren Tsai attends the LA Premiere Of FX's "Legion" Season 3 at ArcLight Hollywood on June 13, 2019 in Hollywood, California. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Lauren Tsai as Switch in a still from Legion season 3. Photo: Suzanne Tenner/FX

Dan Stevens as David Haller in a still from Legion season 3. Photo: Suzanne Tenner/FX

Chinese-American actress Joan Chen on Hollywood, China and ‘English’, her third film as director

Joan Chen photographed at the Asian Film Awards 2019 in Hong Kong earlier this month. Photo: Nora Tam

BPN77N MICHELLE KRUSIEC & JOAN CHEN SAVING FACE (2004)

[28MARCH2019 FEATURE]

CREDIT / ALAMY

Joan Chen on the red carpet of the 2019 Asian Film Awards.

B7XA37 Tian yu Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl  Year: 1998 Hong Kong / USA / Taiwan Director: Joan Chen Xiaolu Li. Image shot 1985. Exact date unknown.

[28MARCH2019 FEATURE]

CREDIT / ALAMY

Joan Chen (right) on the set of English.

Pictured here is Shanghai-born actress Joan Chen, who played in "The Last Emperor".

BKBTB2 TWIN PEAKS (TV - 1990) JOAN CHEN, MICHAEL ONTKEAN TPSS 013 OS

[28MARCH2019 FEATURE]

CREDIT / ALAMY

An early promotional poster for the film English, directed by Joan Chen.

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Film & TV

After her supporting role in Crazy Rich Asians, actress plays the lead in The Farewell, Lulu Wang’s tale of a Chinese-American seeing a dying relative in China
The film’s portrayal of warring identities resonated with the 31-year-old, who was born to a Korean mother and Chinese-American father in New York


‘I don’t look like a movie star. I don’t sound like one,’ says Asian-American actress, who sees herself as setting an example for the next generation. She talks about how the portrayal of warring identities in Lulu Wang’s film resonated with her.
