Awkwafina, born Nora Lum, is an entertainment personality from Forest Hills, Queens, New York and has dabbled in rap, comedy, television and acting. Lum began her time in the entertainment industry as a musician, playing trumpet and being trained in classical and jazz music during her time at LaGuardia High School. She later attended the University of Albany where she majored in journalism and women’s studies.
The stage name Awkwafina was adopted by Lum at age 16 in order to give her an outlet that was something other than her usual “quiet and passive” self.
Things have worked out well for Lum since adopting the stage name, releasing a viral song “My Vag” that generated more than two million views on YouTube. She also released a solo album titled Yellow Ranger which includes songs like, you guessed it, “Yellow Ranger”, “Queef”, and “NYC Bitche$.”
She then got into acting where she is now set to star in the all-female spinoff of the Ocean’s Trilogy dubbed Ocean’s 8.
Being born to a first-generation Chinese-American father and South Korean immigrant mother, Awkwafina has faced her fair share of typecasting and understands that it can be a male-dominated business, but she is excited with the direction that things seem to be trending in Hollywood.
“I think I’m seeing a general shift in Hollywood, and even since I’ve started acting, like two or three years ago,” Awkwafina said in an interview with Teen Vogue. “I think whatever we’re in right now, we’re moving in the right direction.”
Ocean’s 8 — which also stars big names like Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, and Dakota Fanning — is set to hit theaters on Friday, June 7.