Awkwafina said she had a “mind-blowing” experience after learning backstage she made history at the Golden Globes.
The rapper and actress on Sunday became the first woman of Asian descent to win a Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy film for her starring role in “The Farewell.” She’s best known for her comic role in “Crazy Rich Asians.”
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Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for "The Farewell" at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP PhotoChris Pizzello)
Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for "The Farewell" at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP PhotoChris Pizzello)
This image released by NBC shows Awkwafina accepting the award for best actress in a motion picture comedy for her role in "The Farewell" at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. (Paul DrinkwaterNBC via AP)
This image released by NBC shows Awkwafina accepting the award for best actress in a motion picture comedy for her role in "The Farewell" at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. (Paul DrinkwaterNBC via AP)
Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for "The Farewell" at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP PhotoChris Pizzello)
Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for "The Farewell" at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP PhotoChris Pizzello)
Awkwafina believes she has more to prove.
Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for "The Farewell" at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP PhotoChris Pizzello)
“It’s pretty mind-blowing,” she said. “It feels incredible. There’s also another feeling that you are going to do more. I hope this is just the beginning.”
Awkwafina shifted course to play a young woman in a Chinese family that is keeping their matriarch’s cancer a secret from her in director Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell.” She said she particularly related to the film.
“Immigrants in this country who were raised to feel very American ... and when we go back where, you know, we're told that you don't belong here and you go back to where you belong," she said. "You feel like a stranger there and this constant feeling of being lost in translation. And I think that's what really resonated with me in ‘The Farewell.’”
Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for "The Farewell" at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP PhotoChris Pizzello)
The win is part of a breakout two-year run for the 31-year-old actress, who had a breakthrough year in 2018 after appearances in “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Ocean’s 8.”
She may now see an Academy Award nomination, though best actress winners in the Globes’ separate comedy category don’t always see Oscar nods.
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MrLandrum31
This image released by NBC shows Awkwafina accepting the award for best actress in a motion picture comedy for her role in "The Farewell" at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. (Paul DrinkwaterNBC via AP)
For complete coverage of the Golden Globes visit: www.apnews.com/GoldenGlobeAwards
This image released by NBC shows Awkwafina accepting the award for best actress in a motion picture comedy for her role in "The Farewell" at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. (Paul DrinkwaterNBC via AP)
Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for "The Farewell" at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP PhotoChris Pizzello)
Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for "The Farewell" at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP PhotoChris Pizzello)
