Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Awkwafina
#10: Her Real Name Is Nora Lum
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Following in the footsteps of other mononymous celebs like Prince and Cher, Queen’s, New York native Nora Lum opted to ditch her birth name in favor of something with a little more…panache. At the age of 16, Lum was in search of a stage name and ultimately settled on Aquafina, spelling it just like the well-known brand of bottled water. However, lest she end up in a legal quagmire, the aspiring rapper switched up the spelling; resulting in the peculiar spelling we know and love today. Ironically enough, Lum was surprised when a name – she herself feels is stupid – took off.
#9: She Raps
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You’d be remiss for thinking that Awkwafina got her start as a stand-up comedian; what with her quick wit and offbeat personality. However, she’s been heavy into rap since the tender age of 11 and started laying down tracks when she was just 13. At 17 she was producing her own beats and when she was 24 she released “My Vag.”, which became a viral sensation. Since then she’s dropped two full length studio albums, “Yellow Ranger” and “In Fina We Trust”. Additionally, she was one of four Korean-American rappers profiled in the 2016 documentary “Bad Rap”.
#8: Her YouTube Channel Is Super Popular
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Spurred by the success of “My Vag.” – which has more than 4.5 million hits – Awkwafina’s YouTube channel blew up. Her videos, which are mainly songs and music videos, regularly garner views in the tens of thousands. In fact, her online presence was so strong that she was later asked to host a web series. While her first idea was to hit the streets to interview prostitutes and the homeless, she ultimately teamed up with Astronauts Wanted and go90 to create “Tawk”, a web series in which she interviewed celebrities. “Tawk” later garnered a Streamy Award nomination in the News and Culture category.
#7: She Was on “Girl Code”
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A spin-off of MTV’s “Guy Code”, which aired from 2011 to 2015, “Girl Code” revolved around a similar premise, with ladies from various sects of the entertainment industry sitting down and discussing “the sisterhood that women share.” Awkwafina appeared in six episodes across two seasons and later served as the co-host of “Girl Code Live”, a spin-off of the spin-off. We’ll just call it a spin-off squared. As a host and panel member, Awkwafina always came locked and loaded with a surplus of her trademark moxi. Honestly, she’d make one hell of a late-night talk show host. Just sayin’…
#6: She Went to a Famous High School
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Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts’ list of notable alumni’s reads like a who’s who of A-list celebrities. Some of the actors, artists and entertainers that have passed through its doors include Jennifer Aniston, Timothée Chalamet, Al Pacino, Nicki Minaj, Liza Minnelli and many, many more. Well, you can now add Awkwafina’s name to the school’s list of prestigious alumni. The future quadruple threat spent her teens years there honing her craft, while also learning to play the trumpet. She went on to study journalism and women’s studies at UAlbany before attending the Beijing Language and Culture University to work on her Mandarin. Talk about a Brainiac!
#5: She's Nothing like Her Alter Ego
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While most probably assume that Nora Lum and Awkwafina are the same person, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Awkwafina is very much Lum’s alter ego; with Lum describing her as “the girl who's high on sleepover energy, running around and dunking ice cream cones in her eyes.” This larger-than-life persona was developed during Lum’s college years, in response to the structure of college life; which she likened to “prison reform”. According to her, the character of Awkwafina is “definitely a person I repressed” – during her younger years – that now allows her to overcome her natural shyness.
#4: She Is the Second Asian American Woman to Host "SNL"
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Is that accurate? Anyway. Yes, it’s true. In 2018, Awkwafina became just the second Asian American women to ever host “Saturday Night Live” – which has been airing literally forever – with the first being actress Lucy Liu back in 2000. All in all only six Asian celebs have ever hosted the show. Unsurprisingly, Awkwafina killed it, with her monologue and Sandra Oh impression stealing the show. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before another Asian woman was tapped to host; and wouldn’t you know it, it was Sandra Oh herself! Coincidence? We think not.
#3: She Improvised Most of Her Lines in “Crazy Rich Asians”
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“Crazy Rich Asians” took the world by storm in 2018, raking in $238 million at the box office, and earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Much of the film’s success was due to its pitch perfect casting, with our girl Awkwafina stealing the show with her plethora of side-splitting one-liners. With jokes that good, one would assume they were crafted over many hours by a team of top-notch comedy writers. However, it turns out that Awkwafina improvised most of her dialogue, making her even funnier than we’d previously thought. It would appear the sky’s the limit when it comes to her talent.
#2: She Doesn’t Do Accents
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Awkwafina sat down with Vice in 2017 to discuss her experience as an Asian-American actress in Hollywood, and the conversation produced an interesting tidbit about her approach to the medium. The burgeoning star didn’t pull any punches when asked if there were any roles she wouldn’t accept, saying, “I've walked out of auditions where the casting director all of a sudden changed her mind and asked for accents. I refuse to do accents.” She went on to express her frustration with writers attempting to marginalize her culture, stating, she won't take auditions that make her feel like she's, quote, “making a minstrel out of our people.” Hey, a girl’s gotta have a code.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:
She Got the Part in “Ocean’s 8” Without Auditioning
She Appeared in “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising”
Her Parody Music Video "My V*G." Went Viral
She's a Musician & a Music Producer
She Lived in Beijing for 2 Years Studying Mandarin
#1: She’s a Travel Writer
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And just when you thought she had no other mediums to conquer. In 2015, Awkwafina teamed up with Penguin Random House in order to publish “Awkwafina’s NYC”, a travel guide that takes readers on a journey through the Big Apple’s greatest hits – at least from her perspective. The book is in truth an anti-travel guide, in that it describes places like Staten Island as the “glorious butt-end of many bad and overused native New Yorker jokes”, includes quirky rants about the city’s various sights, as well as where to find the best public restrooms. “Awkwafina’s NYC” is just as funny, sarcastic and off the wall as its creator – which honestly, doesn’t surprise us in the slightest.
