Nora Lum, known by her stage name Awkwafina, may have an estimated net worth of millions, but she still lives with the mindset that she only needs $ 500 a month to survive, she recently told E. Alex Jung in February history cover of Harper’s Bazaar.
Lum, 32, says the money philosophy dates back to the early days, when she was building her musical and comedy Awkwafina persona, which she used as a creative outlet while working as a day job in book advertising.
With the encouragement of a friend, she recorded a video for “My Vag” on her 24th birthday, almost certain that it would give her employer reason to fire her (she adds that she was a “horrible assistant” anyway) ).
She was fired, but at the same time, the song was chosen on The Hairpin, circulated on the internet, resulted in a $ 1,500 show at Sarah Lawrence (the biggest amount she ever won at the time, Lum says) and many more opportunities of performance. Lum decided it was worth trying to have fun.
She started with the goal of doing enough to cover the basics. “I got into this mode of, if I can make $ 500 a month, that’s all I need, because that was the amount of my rent at the time,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “To this day, I still feel that I have the ‘All I need is 500 a month’ mentality.”
“I won just enough and was able to do something that I loved doing. I wanted it so badly, ”she continues. “The truth is, the best years of your life are when you expect something big to happen.”
In 2018, getting major roles in “Ocean’s 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians”, she resisted giving up her cheap railroad apartment in Brooklyn, New York – her first apartment after college, where she initially rented a room for $ 500.
When filming “Crazy Rich Asians” took her to distant locations, Lum recalls, “I remember walking around Singapore at these malls and saying, ‘I can’t buy anything at these malls.’ And then seeing these crazy houses. And it’s like literally, ‘Who am I?’ “She said to Harper’s Bazaar. “Those were the days. I just felt that I must be very lucky to be here.”
Still, in recent years, Lum has spoken openly about how his parsimonious behavior failed to reach his rising star and purchasing power. She is known for buying clothes at Target and not spending “literally on anything”.
She credits her spending philosophy to being created by her grandmother in a one-bedroom apartment in Queens, New York, after her grandparents’ restaurant went bankrupt and they lost their home. Lum remembers scarce money at home and staying up late at night with his grandmother, who was worried about paying the bills.
Lum says she still maintains a “just the basics” mentality, although she is now in a better financial position to support herself and her family. She has been busy acting since, including launching her own Comedy Central series and becoming the first Asian American to win the Golden Globe for best actress, for her lead role in the 2019 drama “The Farewell”.
His next works include Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, the remake of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”, a Netflix comedy with Sandra Oh, and the Apple TV + film “Swan Song” starring by Mahershala Ali.
“Yes, I always feel the imposter syndrome because there are so many talented people out there,” Lum told Harper’s Bazaar. “But I’m not going today because I worked too hard —— too much.”
Output check:
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