Jan. 8, 2019 / 6:52 PM GMT
By Charles Lam
Awkwafina, whose 2018 included roles in “Ocean’s 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians” as well as a turn hosting “Saturday Night Live,” is in talks to join the cast of the sequel to 2017’s “Jumanji,” The Hollywood Reporter and Variety reported Thursday.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan are expected to return to sequel of the 2017 remake, which grossed more than $900 million worldwide, according to Variety.
“She’s ready to play in JUMANIJI!” Johnson wrote on Twitter Saturday. “Welcome the super talented @awkwafina to our cast! She lit it up in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and it’s gonna be so much fun workin’ with her.”
Born Nora Lum, the 29-year-old rapper-turned-actor first rose to fame in 2012, when the YouTube video for her song “My Vag” went viral. She released an album in 2014 and a New York City travel guide a year later. She made her film debut in 2016’s “Neighbors 2.”
“A lot of Asian people are on college campuses, so it’s really nice to be a part of a film that accurately represents that,” Lum told NBC News in 2015 after her “Neighbors” casting news was announced.
Both of Lum’s summer 2018 films — “Ocean’s 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians” — grossed more than $100 million, and she released an EP, “In Fina We Trust,” last June. Lum is also in the process of developing an autobiographical series at Comedy Central and can be seen in two upcoming Sundance films — “The Farewell” and “Paradise Hills” — according to Variety.
“I’m not going to put on a ‘Fu Manchu accent’ for comedy,” Lum told NBC News last year. “We’re not desperate for roles anymore. This movie is going to say we’re not sheep, and if a role sucks, then we’re not going to do it.”
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