If you watched the 2020 Golden Globes television and film awards show, you watched Asian American history being made, as Awkwafina became the first woman of Asian descent to win Golden Globe for lead actress in a comedy for her lead role in the film, The Farewell:
“Awkwafina is the second woman of Asian descent to be nominated in the category in two years. Last year, her “Crazy Rich Asians” costar Constance Wu was nominated for lead actress in a movie comedy/musical. (Olivia Colman won that year for her performance in “The Favourite”). Sandra Oh had a historic win at the 2019 Golden Globes, taking home the award for lead actress in a TV drama for her work on “Killing Eve,” making her the first actor of Asian descent to win multiple Golden Globes (Oh was previously recognized in the TV supporting actress category for her work on “Grey’s Anatomy”).”
Awkwafina had some stiff competition:
Image courtesy of the Hollywood Foreign Press
In The Farewell, Awkwafina plays Billi, an American woman whose family has chosen to keep the truth of a terminal diagnosis from her grandmother in China. Her role is much more on the dramatic side rather than the comedic side though … so it’s a bit odd I find how the Hollywood Foreign Press has the two different categories – Best Motion Picture – ‘Drama’ and ‘Musical or Comedy.’
Except for The Farewell, I have not seen the other films, so I can’t comment on the other actresses’ performances. Emma Thompson and Cate Blanchett are iconic veteran actresses. As I mentioned in my previous post, I enjoyed The Farewell and could definitely personally relate to the premise of the film.
I think that Awkwafina was honestly surprised that she won. She thanked A24 Films, Shuzhen Zhao, the amazing actress who played her grandmother, , Lulu Wang, the writer/director, and her dad, to whom she joked that she finally found a job, and finally her mom, who passed away when she was 4.
If you haven’t seen the film yet, you should!
