Dear Gossips,
Yesterday in this space I posted about The Farewell and how, in limited release, it opened with the highest per theatre average of the year, higher than even Avengers: Endgame. Of The Farewell’s impressive performance, a media analyst told Variety that the film “is the blockbuster of the indie world” but that’s not enough, not yet. Because the strategy behind The Farewell is gradual release and this weekend it will start screening in a few hundred theatres in bigger cities alongside the king, The Lion King. Will you show up if The Lion King is not your thing?
People showed up in New York for The Farewell even though there was a blackout. Awkwafina acknowledged this on Instagram yesterday:
The hope is that all this positive press about The Farewell makes people even more curious, even more eager. And, of course, if the film continues to deliver when it opens wide, that Oscar buzz might get louder, for director Lulu Wang, but also for Awkwafina. I mean, it’s a LONGSHOT. Like a major longshot. But Gold Derby posted about the potential for an Awkwafina breakthrough just the other day. And given how much the critics love it, the hope is that it will stay on their lists and critics’ board considerations through summer and fall.
Speaking of Awkwafina, she was interviewed by Margaret Cho for Harper’s Bazaar, just posted this morning. As she says, for a long, long time, for Asian girls growing up in North America, there was only Margaret Cho. After Oceans 8 and Crazy Rich Asians and Saturday Night Live last year, Awkwafina is experiencing the same, as people have approached her with emotional stories of feeling seen, as other Asian American actors are telling her that they’re getting more auditions. When Margaret asks Awkwafina about being in high profile projects, about being the lead in a film, about being invited to award shows and walking red carpets, this was her response:
“I grew up never really feeling pretty or like a girly girl. I was uncomfortable in my skin when it came to that stuff. I had been dressed up for events and had gotten glam before, but at the Crazy Rich Asians premiere I looked in the mirror and it felt different. It sounds clichéd, but I felt like a princess.”
You know what I’m going to say here but I’ll say it anyway: some girls don’t grow up believing they can be the princess so, you know, in that sense, dressing up and getting to be the one who gets dressed up, who gets sent clothes, who gets asked about clothes, is not just about what’s on the surface.
Click here to see Awkwafina dressed up in Harper’s Bazaar. And, if you’re thinking about the movies this weekend, and The Lion King is not your thing, go see The Farewell. It is for everyone.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
