Lulu Wang was hesitant to cast Awkwafina as the lead in ‘The Farewell’.
The ‘Posthumous’ filmmaker recently helmed the comedy-drama, which is based on her own life and follows a family who – upon learning their grandmother has only a short while left to live – decide not to tell her and schedule a family gathering before she dies.
The role was given to Awkwafina, but filmmaker Wang revealed that when the producer approached her suggesting the 30-year-old rapper and actress should play a "version of her" in the film, she wasn’t convinced the star would be a good fit.
In an interview with Variety, she said: "[When] my producer brought her name up I was like, ‘Awkwafina, the rapper from Queens? This is who you think should play, I guess, a version of me in a drama? Are we making the same film here?’ "
However, Wang went on to explain that the audition tape finally convinced her that the ‘Ocean’s 8’ star could give a moving performance.
She added: "There was a quality of both light and dark, where she’s able to make a joke but you kind of feel like, in a way, she’s doing it to mask something deeper."
Although Wang has made smaller films in the past, the writer and director wouldn’t be averse to making bigger movies, and insisted she would "love" to make a superhero film – although the project would have to have "the right message".
She explained: "I would absolutely love to do a superhero movie. It just has to be the right one. It has to have the right message.
"Yes, I’m putting it out into the universe. Bring me all the superheroes. Definitely female. I definitely want to do a female superhero."
Awkwafina nearly missed out on The Farewell role
