Awkwafina Makes History At The 2020 Golden Globes

“The Farewell” centers on Awkwafina’s character, Billi, who was raised in the U.S. and returns to her birthplace of Changchun, China, to spend time with her dying grandmother.

“This week has been so surreal,” the actor/rapper wrote in an Instagram post celebrating the nomination last month. “Incredibly honored to wake up to the news this morning… Thank you so much HFPA for this nomination and for recognizing @thefarewell. Can’t believe I am nominated alongside such insanely talented women.”

Prior to Awkwafina, only a few actors of Asian descent had been nominated in the lead actress musical/comedy movie category. Most recently, Constance Wu was nominated in the same category for “Crazy Rich Asians” last year.

In 2017, Hailee Steinfeld, who has Filipino roots, scored a nomination for her role in “The Edge of Seventeen.” Yvonne Elliman was nominated in 1974 for “Jesus Christ Superstar.” In 1962, Miyoshi Umeki received a nomination for “Flower Drum Song,” and in 1957 Machiko Kyo was nominated for “The Teahouse of the August Moon.”

Awkwafina, whose father is Chinese American and whose late mother was South Korean, told the Los Angeles Times in December that Wu’s Golden Globe nomination last year was “very inspiring to see.”

“I think all of that, Constance’s nomination, Sandra Oh’s win, it all tied into this larger reality that there hasn’t really been a lot,” she said. “And also on the brighter side, that it’s changing.”

Oh, who co-hosted the 2019 Golden Globes, also took home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama that year.

Awkwafina told the Times that she watched the Golden Globes “every year” growing up, and that “if I would have seen someone like me up there it would have been different.”