Awkwafina to Be the First Asian Woman in Nearly 20 Years to Host ‘Saturday Night Live’

With the blockbuster success of both of her recent films “Ocean’s 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” it is clear that rapper/actress Awkwafina is having a fantastic year.

The 29-year-old New Yorker will also be marking 2018 with another milestone in her career by hosting “Saturday Night Live” next week.

Saturday Night Live’s Twitter account broke the official announcement on Thursday with a photo of a cork board full of post-its listing the first three hosts and musical acts of the upcoming season.

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Awkwafina, whose real name is Nora Lum, expressed her excitement via an Instagram post, writing: “Supremely stoked for this.”

As host, Awkwafina is set to deliver the opening monologue and perform in sketches with the cast throughout the episode on Oct. 6.

Her turn to host the Emmy-winning sketch show is indeed exciting as she is the first Asian female to host it since Lucy Liu’s hosting in 2000.

Kicking off its 44th season this weekend, the show has featured only four Asians as its host since the show began in 1975 with George Carlin. Other Asian stars who have hosted the show were Jackie Chan (2000), Aziz Ansari (2017) and Kumail Nanjiani (2017).

Notable Asian talent who have yet to host the long-running program are Mindy Kaling, Ken Jeong, and Margaret Cho, among others.

Featured Image via Instagram / Awkwafina

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