Awkwafina is scheduled to hit the streets in February to lead a world-famous San Francisco celebration.
San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Festival organizers announced on Tuesday the New York actor and rapper will be the grand marshal of 2024’s Year of the Dragon Parade, which is scheduled for Feb. 24.
Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, swiftly ascended to celebrity status after she started self-releasing rap songs online in the early 2010s. She turned her internet stardom into a successful acting career, nabbing a series of television and film appearances before landing a high-profile supporting role in 2018’s box office-breaking “Crazy Rich Asians.” Her performance in the 2019 comedy-drama “Farewell” made her the first Asian American to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress.
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In 2021, she co-starred with Simu Liu in Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” which begins in San Francisco and even involves a lengthy fight scene on a Muni bus.
Michelle Yeoh, star of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and one of Awkwafina’s co-stars in “Shang-Chi,” was named grand marshal in 2018. Daniel Wu, star of AMC’s “Into the Badlands” and a Bay Area native, was grand marshal in 2022. In past years, the grand marshals have ridden through the parade in convertibles, waving to crowds as they pass.
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Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown was named 2024’s honorary grand marshal.
“It’s such an honor to serve as Grand Marshal of the San Francisco Lunar New Year Parade! I’m so excited to celebrate with our community,” Awkwafina said in a statement. “Having been born in the year of the dragon, I look forward to fostering growth and progress that the upcoming year will bring for us.”