ENERGETIC
ORIGINAL
AWKWAFINA | 30
By Sandra Oh
The first time I ever saw Awkwafina was
in 2013. She was on the cover of KoreAm
magazine, staring down the lens after
rapping about her vag. I thought, Who
is that?
The first time I met Awkwafina was
in 2015. She was at a Korean American
Story event, supporting fellow rapper
Dumbfoundead, and they were just so
fresh and full of this amazing energy. I
thought, Who is she?
The last time I saw Awkwafina, we
were eating burgers at Crazy Rich Asians
director Jon M. Chu’s house after the
Critics’ Choice Awards. I cannot express
how pleased I am to see her meteoric
rise. I’m not surprised because she is a
complete original. There are so many
things I can point to: Her timing. Her
beautiful, melancholic face. And her un-
forgettable voice.
In the opening scene of The Farewell,
Awkwafina, as her character Billi, is talk-
ing to her grandmother on the phone in
perfect Mandarin—and then turns to
talk to a woman on the street in English,
flipping back to the everyday New
Yorker she is. I think her ability in that
scene exemplifies a unique and powerful
moment of identity. She’s able to hold
many identities while simultaneously
(and singularly) being herself.
Oh is a Golden Globe Award–winning
actor