Crazy Rich Asians made a lot of Oscars snubs lists this year, especially thanks to getting nods and wins at awards shows including the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards. Recently, Crazy Rich Asians actress Awkwafina spoke out about the movie not earning Oscar nods and her response was very gracious. She said:
I mean I don’t really know the exact reasoning behind it, but I think that of course it would have been cool. We had an amazing awards run. We were up for tons of awards and we actually won the Critic’s Choice Best Picture. I think the entire cast, instead of saying like, ‘Oh we’ve been snubbed –except for Ronny Chieng who did an entire special about how he was snubbed from supporting actor—I think the entire cast, we’re very grateful for the attention that it’s gotten.
Jokes about Ronny Chieng’s special aside, Awkwafina was very candid when asked about the response from the Internet after the Oscar nominations broke. She pointed out the successes Crazy Rich Asians has had so far, focusing on the good stuff and not the stuff that wasn’t to be. Her answer is both polished and candid, which can be hard to pull off.
Awkwafina later went on to admit that when she signed on for Crazy Rich Asians, it wasn’t with awards attention in mind, telling Variety later in the interview:
I don’t think that we anticipated it to be nominated for any awards. So, the fact it got as much recognition as it did, I think that’s enough.
It’s not as if Crazy Rich Asians was alone on an island in terms of snubs. There were a lot of notable Oscars snubs. Emily Blunt did not get nominated for playing Mary Poppins. Bradley Cooper lost out on a Best Director nod. The most talked about documentary of the year Won’t You Be My Neighbor? wasn’t brought up at all.
Still, the Crazy Rich Asians cast –or Awkwafina at least—seems happy with where the film has landed in the cultural consciousness. The movie has already been greenlighted for a sequel (although it could be a while before the cast and director Jon M. Chu have time to reunite). People like it and we'll get to see more from characters including Awkwafina's Peik Lin Goh and also Astrid, Rachel, Nick and Eleanor Young.
All in all, even without an Oscars nod, Crazy Rich Asians has far exceeded expectations. In fact, a movie that Netflix initially wanted to shoehorn onto its service ended up making more than $238 million worldwide. So, it's doing pretty well for itself, even if it didn't earn a seat at the table at the biggest movies event of the year.
