The San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival & Parade is thrilled to announce, Awkwafina as this year’s Parade Grand Marshal. Join us on Saturday, February 24 as we usher in the Year of the Dragon.
“It’s such an honor to serve as Grand Marshal of the San Francisco Lunar New Year Parade! I’m so excited to celebrate with our community,” says Awkwafina, who will be starring in the upcoming Kung Fu Panda 4 as Zhen, a fox who teams up with the franchise’s legendary Dragon Warrior, Po. “Having been born in the year of the dragon, I look forward to fostering growth and progress that the upcoming year will bring for us.”
AWKWAFINA is an award-winning actress, writer, and producer from Queens, New York. She grew up with her given name, Nora Lum, and has since used her trademark comedic style and signature flair to become a breakout talent in the entertainment industry. Lum can currently be seen in the dysfunctional family comedy Hulu film “Quiz Lady” in
which she produced and stars alongside Sandra Oh. The film was released on November 3rd. Nora can next be heard in Illumination’s “Migration,” voicing a pigeon alongside a family of ducks voiced by Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Carol Kane, Danny DeVito, and Kumail Nanjiani. “Migration” will be released on December 22nd. Lum will join the voices of Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Viola Davis, and more in DreamWork’s highly anticipated “Kung Fu Panda 4” in March of 2024. Upcoming, Nora along with Simu Liu and John Cena, have been cast as the leading stars in Amazon Studio’s upcoming action-comedy Grand Death Lotto, directed by Paul Feig.
Lum can be heard as the voice of Scuttle in the live-action remake of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and seen in the two seasons of her Comedy Central Show, “Awkwafina is Nora From Queens,” which she created and stars in. Lum can be seen in hit films such as, Disney’s “Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings”, Universal’s “The Bad Guys,
Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon”, “Jumanji: The Next Level,” and MGM’s “Breaking News in Yuba County”. Lum received glowing reviews for her starring role in the indie darling “The Farewell,” where she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The story is based on a true story about a family
saying goodbye to their beloved matriarch – the only person who doesn’t know she is dying. In just its first weekend in four theaters only, the film beat the record of biggest per-theater average of the year, previously held by “Avengers: Endgame,” the second best-selling movie in history. The small family drama quickly won over viewers and critics alike, with many calling it one of the best films of 2019. The film was released nationwide on August 2, 2019.
Lum brings an impressive range of talent to everything she does, most famously to Warner Bros’ smash hit “Crazy Rich Asians,” opposite Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding, and Ken Jeong in which she starred as Peik Lin. The film opened on August 15, 2018, to rave reviews and four straight weekends of $20+ million at the box
office. Lum hosted “Saturday Night Live” that same year as part of the show’s 44th season.
She starred in another Warner Bros feature, “Ocean’s 8,” directed by Gary Ross and alongside an impeccable ensemble cast including Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter. Prior to that, she starred in the indie comedy, “Dude,” written and directed by Olivia Milch.
In 2016, Lum made her feature film debut in the comedy “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” with Seth Rogen, Zac Efron and Rose Byrne and was heard as the voice of Quail in the animated adventure “Storks.”
Her first book, Awkwafina’s NYC, a travel guide to New York, was published by Penguin Random House in 2015.
She currently resides in Los Angeles.