Awkwafina Bags Historic Golden Globe Win

By N. Jamiyla Chisholm Jan 06, 2020

Awkwafina became the first Asian-American actor to win a Golden Globe in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy category on Sunday (January 5) for her role in Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell.”

“I actually heard that fact and it was pretty mind-blowing,” Awkwafina said backstage about the history-making win, according to Deadline. “It feels incredible…but you want there to be more. I hope this is only the beginning.” “The Fairwell” tells the true story of a Chinese-American woman who returned to China to say goodbye to her dying grandmother.

While very few artists of color were nominated, the star of the Hulu series “Ramy,” Egyptian-American Ramy Youssef, won the night’s first award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series—Musical or Comedy. "Sometimes, in this specific industry, networks feel like they need to sell something like toothpaste,” Youssef told The Hollywood Reporter backstage. “So getting something like this shows you can really relate to people with something that feels really granular. Symbolically, I hope this allows people to make more stories."

Another groundbreaking win was for Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s class thriller “Parasite” in the Best Motion Picture—Foreign Language category. “Parasite” was the first Korean film to be nominated for and win a Golden Globe, the Los Angeles Times reports. During his acceptance speech, Bong said through his translator, “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films. Just being nominated along with fellow amazing international filmmakers was a huge honor. I think we use only one language: the cinema.”

For a full list of winners, click here.