The Summer of Awkwafina

What happens when you star in not one, but two of the most talkedabout blockbusters this summer? You quickly become the one to watch, and a quick Google search on your name will throw up articles like “Who is Awkwafina?” and “Five Things You Should Know About Awkwafina”. Well – if you didn’t know, now you know.

- Sophie Hong

World, meet Nora Lum. Better known as her stage name Awkwafina, the 30-year-old hits the big screens twice over the span of two months this year: first in Ocean’s 8, and again in the highly-anticipated Crazy Rich Asians this month.

Her initial claim to fame, though? A music video called “My Vag”, which appeared on YouTube six years ago and has since garnered more than two million views. Choice lines include: “My vag won best vag, your vag won best supporting vag” – which, now that we think about it, might become a self-fulfilling prophecy given that her career is on a steep upward trajectory.

First, let’s talk Crazy Rich Asians. How much of the country did you get to see?

A lot of it was shot at Marina Bay Sands. We also went to Tim Ho Wan and Lau Pa Sat a lot. There was a lot of eating. And shopping too, because we were right next to Far East Plaza. It’s, like, the best mall ever. We were in Singapore for a month, and we’d been in Kuala Lumpur for a month before that. It was really cool because Henry Golding has lived in both KL and Singapore, so he took the cast around to the restaurants.

What are some of your favourite Singaporean food?

OMG, the chicken rice was really good. And also the prata, which was really good in both KL and Singapore.

You were also in another huge summer blockbuster, Ocean’s 8. The experience must have been insane with the ensemble cast.

There was a lot of anxiety. I was extremely nervous, but those nerves quickly disappeared. They are professionals who are really sweet, and we’ve become a very tight-knit family.

How did you deal with that anxiety?