BLCU Alumnus Awkwafina Lands a Historic Golden Globe Win

原创 Joey Knotts theBeijinger

The multi-talented Awkwafina made history at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles this Sunday night, becoming the first performer of Asian descent to be awarded a prestigious Golden Globe, winning for best lead film actress, and only the sixth Asian ever to be nominated for the prize. Beijingers also have a reason to celebrate her victory, given that it comes a mere 12 years after her departure from Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) where she studied Mandarin for two years, just before the Olympic games came to town.

Awkwafina accepts her historic award

Indeed, her language studies in the capital no doubt came in handy in snagging the coveted award for her performance in The Farewell, in which she plays an American of Chinese descent and must speak (somewhat broken) Mandarin with her grandmother. Based on a true story from the life of writer and director Lulu Wang, the film made waves for its emotional exploration of a familial culture clash and was celebrated by representation-minded film fans who pointed to it as a testament to the range of possibilities that an all-Asian cast can bring to the industry, having followed the more light-hearted Crazy Rich Asians, which also co-stars Awkwafina.

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It is hard to say how much of young Awkwafina's charming personality and feminist activism, which she weaponized with her 2012 hit rap single "My Vag" (watch below), were developed during her time in Beijing but we like to think that those two years just were not without effect (though we'll admit that her rap skills were likely found elsewhere). What we do know for sure is the actress now looks back fondly at her time in Beijing, eating the local delicacy of KFC bucket.

Awkwafina feasts on a familiar Beijing delicacy during her time at BLCU

Awkwafina is not the only international celebrity to have studied in Beijing, either (although our southern rivals in Nanjing lay claim to the childhood of Kanye West). Golden Globe-nominated actress Mira Sorvino, while studying East Asian studies at Harvard University in the late 1980s, became fluent in Mandarin after just one year here with the Council on International Educational Exchange. Unlike Awkwafina, Sorvino has never spoken Chinese on camera, but she did describe her skills as "mamahuhu" during a Reddit AMA.

You can see Awkwafina in action when The Farewell hits Chinese cinemas this Friday.