Tom Hanks, Akwafina, others shine at the 77th Golden Globes Award

Asian-American actress, Nora Lum aka Awkwafina, and actor Tom Hanks were among performers who made award history at the 77th Golden Globes.

The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in film, both American and International, and the American television.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Awkwafina made history, Sunday night, as the first performer of Asian descent to win a Golden Globe Award in a lead actress category.

`The Farewell’ star is the sixth woman of Asian descent to be nominated in the lead actress in a musical or comedy category.

The others were Machiko Kyo (1956’s ‘The Teahouse of the August Moon’), Miyoshi Umeki (1961’s ‘Flower Drum Song’), Yvonne Elliman (1973’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’), and Constance Wu (2018).

Hailee Steinfeld, whose mother is of Filipino descent, was nominated for her work in ‘Edge of Seventeen’.

Wu’s nomination in 2018 was notable for ending a disappointing drought of female nominees of Asian descent that lasted almost half a century.

The 77th annual Golden Globes kicked off Sunday night with comedian Ricky Gervais hosting for his fifth time.

He warned the audience he would be as mean as he has always been at the award show but reminded them “they’re just jokes” and to not take it too hard.

NAN reports that Netflix led the award show’s nominations with 34 across the film and TV categories.

The streaming giant’s divorce drama ‘Marriage Story’ came out on top with six nods (Laura Dern took home best supporting actress) and its mobster film ‘The Irishman’ had five.

Both were up against eventual winner ‘1917’, along with ‘Joker’ and ‘The Two Popes’ in the best drama category.

NAN also reports that actor, Tom Hanks was awarded the Cecil B. deMille Award for his contributions to the world of entertainment.

The 63-year-old actor, who most recently played Mister Rogers in ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’, was emotional when accepting the award.

(NAN)