It had been three weeks between the time when I'd seen Lulu Wang's new film, The Farewell, and when I sat down with its star, Awkwafina, to talk about her quietly stunning portrayal of Billi, a Chinese-American artist who goes with her family to China to say goodbye to her dying grandmother.
And much like Nai Nai's family tries to cheat grief by throwing a party, The Farewell subverts any ideas you might have of what a drama about a dying grandmother should be like: Yes, there are scenes that will leave you in tears, but there's also an abundant amount of laughter, petty drama, and joy. It's a family affair at its heart, and as full of complexities and nuances that are specific to every family, and thus recognizable by us all.
What you're saying with the constant negotiation, that's literally what any dash-American has to do every day of their life. They go home to something, they eat food there; they go out to the mall, they eat food there. It's a constant thing. I think that when it comes down to this lie, specifically, it's purely cultural.
For me, it's always a very personal journey to go back to China. It's your history, but it's also a culture that you felt like you were placed in your whole life, but you have no real, meaningful footstep in. There's always that bit of loss and a connection that's so vague now, it doesn't make any sense. But you also have loved ones there that care about you, that are related to you by blood, but you might not be able to communicate with them.
It kind of reminded me—and I guess it's how I ended up playing everything—of meeting my relatives abroad, who I can't really communicate with; I can't really make them laugh, but I can, in these certain ways. You can't communicate that love, but you have love. That was almost like meeting my family out there.
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