Awkwafina/Nora Lum covers the latest issue of Allure. I enjoyed this interview more than I thought I would. I’ve read several interviews from Lum in recent years, and she often comes across as someone with very strong dual personalities: the “Awkwafina” persona who is a pure extrovert, do-anything-for-attention, happy-go-lucky Brooklyn badass versus “Nora Lum,” the quiet, shy introvert with a working-class background who grew up without a mom. Both sides co-exist, but this interview is the first time where she seems more organized and more talkative. She spoke at length about how much she’s been working, about her Asian-American family and Asian-American identity and a lot more. Some highlights:
She loves true-crime shows: “Dateline is, like, king. It’s always the husband and it’s usually some kind of infidelity. And it’s…it’s…stupidity because they never cover their tracks, right? You know what I mean?” Her sweet spot is scammers, elaborate cover-ups, and scandals like American Greed. “I’m so glad that I’m not this stupid and this greedy.”
The rise in Asian visibility in movies: “We couldn’t even be in movies, so we had to have white actors play us,” says Lum. But she sees how today’s increased visibility can help shape culture. “They work hand in hand,” she says, paraphrasing a quote from her Crazy Rich Asians costar Gemma Chan: “The way that we’re treated onscreen, it bleeds into real life.”
The Atlanta shootings: “I came home and I lay awake in bed and I just started crying… I was raised by a working-class, Asian American woman [my grandmother], so to see that, and the videos of all these other things, is very triggering. It’s a helplessness. My dad commutes into work and I worry about him and…it’s that powerlessness. Because, well, how could you help them? This insane, heinous, horrible crime of terrorism was against a group of Asian people that are often ignored in the conversation, especially when you bring in the model minority myth: working-class, Asian immigrants — Asian Americans. We have to think about their safety as well.”
Insomnia: “I’ve always had insomniac aspects. When I come home from a long day at work, it — extrovert, right? — it energizes me. Then I’m filled with those thoughts of, Did I say that? And I’ll be up for, like, a whole other workday.”
Her Myers-Briggs personality type. She’s an ENFP (Extroverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving). They tend to be highly creative and social but also disorganized and prone to overthinking. “They’re not necessarily hams, but they’re, like, ‘Hey, what’s up? You got that? You got my email?’ Also, I do have a very strong empath quality — I want to make people comfortable.”
Her greatest achievement: “Something I’m most proud of is that I’ve always treated people with the kindness and respect that I was shown. I’m just still blown away that this is a thing. You know what I mean? It’s hard for me to process.”
She’s thrifty/cheap: Lum did treat herself to a big Louis Vuitton carry-on while she was in Australia. But her flashy bag has become more of an art object. “It’s ironic, because I want to protect it, so I actually just use a normal duffel bag — a Samsonite duffel bag.” Similarly, a pricey La Mer cleanser sits on a shelf at home like a special jewel (“only open it on a holiday”) and she fills her daily skin-care regimen with simpler products. “I started to get really into it because I feel like a routine kind of grounds you. And it’s a routine that helps my peace of mind now.”
There are multiple references to how cheap she is and I truly felt represented! She buys drug-store beauty products and she’s not decked out in designer clothing. I bet she knows all of the best deals in restaurants too. She was raised by her dad and her grandmother, and her grandma seems to have drilled thriftiness into her at a young age. Everything she says about the attacks against Asian-Americans is completely true as well – the feeling of powerlessness, the senselessness of the attacks, working class people being targeted by hate, violence and bigotry. Also: I’ve never been into Dateline or American Greed! I understand why those shows are appealing, but I’d rather watch it fictionalized in some kind of miniseries.
Cover & IG courtesy of Allure.
