Awkwafina has made history as the first actress of Asian descent to win a Golden Globe for lead actress in a comedy or musical for the movie “The Farewell.”
The 31-year-old actress, whose real name is Nora Lum, received the award on Sunday night at the 77th Golden Globes, according to Los Angeles Times.
“I’d like to dedicate this to my dad, Wally, I told you I’d get a job dad.” #TheFarewell star @awkwafina accepts the award for best actress in a musical or comedy film https://t.co/D5vyLVJMas #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/xhk1cuFBt4
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 6, 2020
RT @goldenglobes Congratulations to Awkwafina (@awkwafina) – Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy – The Farewell (@thefarewell). – #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/1uwSMxt6WJ
— #GoldenGlobes2020 (@Oscars2020_) January 6, 2020
“I’d like to dedicate this to my dad, Wally. I told you I’d get a job, Dad,” Awkwafina said in her acceptance speech. “To my grandma, my best friend, the woman who raised me. And to my mother, Tia, who I always hope is watching from somewhere above, and I hope that she’s watching now.”
“The Farewell,” written and directed by Lulu Wang, follows the story of Billi, played by Awkwafina, whose grandmother is unaware that she is dying of cancer.
How @awkwafina is reacting to her historic #GoldenGlobes win backstage @thefarewell https://t.co/omJU7zJhN7 pic.twitter.com/URbZ1GELgd
— LAT Entertainment (@latimesent) January 6, 2020
In her backstage press speech, Awkwafina described the moment as “mind-blowing.”
“I actually just heard that fact, and it was pretty mind-blowing,” she said. “It feels incredible, but I think there’s also this other feeling that you want there to be more. I hope this is just the beginning.”
Many people congratulated the actress’ historic win, including “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu, whom Awkwafina has previously worked with.
“Just saying it out loud all night tonight,” the 40-year-old director said in an Instagram post. “A memory I will never forget tonight is my daughter and I jumping up and down screaming for Awkwafina’s win and seeing the look in my daughter’s eyes of pure admiration for the woman on the screen that looks like her.”
Here’s what other people are saying online:
YOUR. 2020. GOLDEN. GLOBE. WINNER. FOR. BEST. ACTRESS. MUSICAL. OR. COMEDY.
AWKWAFINA. THE FAREWELL.
HOW DO I TURN CAPS LOCK OFFFF#GoldenGIobes pic.twitter.com/JXV4D8NEKR
— William Yu (@its_willyu) January 6, 2020
Awkwafina wrote this before filming O8, and now she won at the golden globes.
And one of the actresses she was nervous about working with, reacted like a proud mom pic.twitter.com/shNYT46rbg— (@cate_eblanchett) January 6, 2020
Awkwafina is so fucking good in THE FAREWELL. such a rich, resonant, low-key difficult performance. #GoldenGlobes
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) January 6, 2020
Woohoo! Congrats, Nora! So awesome! @awkwafina is amazing and moving in #farewell. See it if you haven’t yet.
Love you, girl! #goldenglobes ❤️ https://t.co/Lz0amQO3z4
— Ming-Na Wen (@MingNa) January 6, 2020
While Awkwafina is the first Asian woman to win in the category, she is the second Asian American actress to be nominated for lead actress in a movie comedy or musical, with Constance Wu being the first last year for her role in “Crazy Rich Asians.”
Feature Image via Getty
