Awkwafina names her five favourite movies of all time
Though the American star Nora Lum, professionally known as Awkwafina, started off as a rapper, these days she is better recognised as an actor, appearing in some of the most popular movies of contemporary culture. Making a start in the industry back in 2016 with the Hollywood comedy Bad Neighbours 2 with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, Awkwafina has since become a regular fixture of the modern industry.
Coming off of the back of her big-screen debut in 2016, Awkwafina followed up her success with a mammoth year in 2018, appearing in the Hollywood action flick Ocean’s Eight with Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock, as well as the celebrated comedy Crazy Rich Asians. Then, one year later, she would gain great critical acclaim for her role in Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, shortly before she would star in the Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings with Simu Liu.
Back in 2018, the actor sat down to speak with Rotten Tomatoes about her five favourite movies, revealing the films that she loved when she was younger and continue to inspire her to this very day.
First on her list is the vastly underrated Christopher Guest comedy Best in Show from 2000, starring Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge. “It was the first improv sketch film I saw – it was my first mockumentary,” the actor stated: “And I noticed that the way that they do it is just so amazing. I was in love with Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy…Best in Show is so good because it was so evocative of a time and a place”.
The 1999 action comedy Blue Streak takes the second place on her list, with the film following Martin Lawrence and Luke Wilson as a cop duo caught in the middle of a crazy caper. “I love Blue Streak because I used to watch that movie with my grandma. And my grandma loved Martin. She would watch his show on UPN, and, that was her favorite show. But, yeah, Blue Streak is definitely my favorite [action-comedy],” Awkwafina stated.
Another somewhat nostalgic choice for Awkwafina is the 1992 movie A League of Their Own, which tells the story of two sisters who join the first female baseball league. “It was very influential, and I saw it when I was four or five,” she said of the movie: “Must have been really, really young. And I just remember, it made it seem normal that women could play baseball. I absolutely loved Lori Petty, like Lori Petty was me. I related to her in so many ways. I played baseball, I played softball”.
Prioritising movies that she holds a personal fondness for, Awkwafina’s fourth choice is her dad’s “favourite movie”, 1992’s My Cousin Vinny. “We would put it on, and me and my grandma and my dad would sit there and just be cracking up,” the actor lovingly recalled, adding: “And I really liked it because, you know, I’m from New York City, and you know, he kind of [embodies that]. It’s the perfect juxtaposition between someone from New York City that goes to the south and all the kind of lost-in-translation stuff that occurs”.
Awkwafina’s favourite movies:
- Best in Show (Christopher Guest, 2000)
- Blue Streak (Les Mayfield, 1999)
- A League of Their Own (Penny Marshall, 1992)
- My Cousin Vinny (Jonathan Lynn, 1992)
- Saving Face (Alice Wu, 2004)
The final film to make her lucrative top five is the 2004 Alice Wu rom-com Saving Face, which tells the story of a gay Chinese-American woman and her relationship with her mother. “It was the first Asian-American movie that I saw that really connected with me,” the actor stated, “I think that was the first time I really understood what representation was. But it hit closer to home because she was an Asian-American woman and because, you know, she is from Queens”.
