Awkwafina’s Aunt Had the Most Asian Auntie Thing to Say About Her Golden Globe Nomination

The 77th Golden Globe Awards released their list of nominees on Monday, which included Awkwafina’s nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture / Musical or Comedy, for her role in “The Farewell.”

According to the 31-year-old rapper/actress, whose real name is Nora Lum, it’s all been like a “surreal” dream since she found out about the nomination, USA Today reports.

“I grew up watching the Golden Globes every year, cheering for my favorite films and actors. It is surreal that I now get to go!” wrote on Instagram. “Wait, I do get to go right?”

 

At the premiere of “Jumanji: The Next Level” on Monday, the actress revealed that she received the oddest congratulatory text from her aunt.

“The most unusual congratulations was my aunt texting me, telling me I should eat less grains. I really like ancient grains and she had read an article about grains,” Awkwafina was quoted as saying. “And on the back of that (information), she gave me, ‘Oh yeah, congratulations!’ “

Aside from Awkwafina’s nomination, “The Farewell” is also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film category. Awkwafina is now the sixth actress of Asian descent to be nominated in the Best Actress for a Motion Picture category, following her “Crazy Rich Asians” co-star Constance Wu who made the cut last year.

Other Asian actresses shortlisted in the category include Hailee Steinfeld (2016’s “The Edge of Seventeen”), Yvonne Elliman (1973’s “Jesus Christ Superstar”), Miyoshi Umeki (1961’s “Flower Drum Song”) and Machiko Kyo (“1956’s “The Teahouse of the August Moon”).

There has yet to be two Asian actresses competing in the same category.

However, in 1984, Cambodian actor Haing S. Ngor won (“The Killing Fields”) over Pat Morita’s (“The Karate Kid”) for the Best Supporting Actor category.

There have only been a few Asian artists who have won in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual ceremony. Last year, Sandra Oh became the first Asian performer to win multiple Globes for different projects. Other awardees of Asian descent include actress Yoko Shimada (Best TV Drama Actress for “Shōgun” in 1981), Ben Kingsley (Best Drama Actor and the now-defunct Best New Actor for 1982’s “Gandhi”), and Aziz Ansari (Best TV Comedy/Musical Actor for “Master of None” in 2018).

Featured image via thefarewell