Sundance: A different side of Awkwafina in ‘The Farewell’

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Awkwafina’s dramatic turn in “The Farewell” has quickly become one of the must-sees at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

After rising to household name status last summer with breakout comedic roles in “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Ocean’s 8,” audiences in Park City, Utah, have been raving over the discovery that she’s got the chops to make you cry, and not just from laughter.

She plays a Chinese-American woman who discovers that her grandmother is terminally ill. Her family decides not to tell the grandmother about the diagnoses, but concocts a fake wedding to have an excuse to visit. It’s based on director Lulu Wang’s real-life experience.