'Shang-Chi' actress Awkwafina talks about groundbreaking film for Asian artists

ByHosea Sanders KABC logo

Monday, September 6, 2021

Awkwafina talks about new groundbreaking film 'Shang-Chi'

Actress Awkwafina sits down with ABC7 to talk about how "Shang-Chi" is a groundbreaking film for Asian artists.

CHICAGO -- "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is breaking box office records in its debut this Labor Day weekend.

Actress Awkwafina, who plays Katy, sits down with ABC7's Hosea Sanders to talk about this groundbreaking film for Asian artists.

Awkwafina: "Good to see you, it's been a minute!"

Sanders: "I know, last time I talked to you was in 'Raya' - you were a dragon, now this time you are fighting dragons, how are you feeling about that?"

Awkwafina: "I feel good, I feel like there's been a lot of dragons in my life, you know, that's good."

Sanders: "Katy is such a great character. Talk to me about her and how much fun it was playing her."

Awkwafina: "Katy in the movie is Shang-Chi's best friend, she meets him in San Francisco and she goes along with this crazy adventure with him, blindly."

MORE: 'Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings' star Simu Liu hears fans chant his name at world premiere

Director Destin Daniel Cretton celebrates the first Asian superhero, played by Simu Liu, along with his multi-cultural cast in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings."

Sanders: "Representation is really important to you, so with this film, there was a lot of cultural representation."

Awkwafina: "This film takes representation to even another level because within it, there are so many different perspectives of the Asian experience, so it really is something we haven't seen before."

Sanders: "Nobody can deliver a comic line like you. How difficult was it to transition to the action sequences?"

Awkwafina: "Difficult. I don't think I'm the best. I wouldn't even call some of the things I did action sequences so much as gravity forcing me down a pole. It was really fun to even take part in some of the action, but I would say even more fun to just watch the brilliance going on around me."

Sanders: "How does it feel to be part of this big Marvel Universe?"

Awkwafina: "It feels very good to be a part of it, the 'craffy' is good. It's all good, yeah."

Sanders: "We hope to see you more of you in any sequels?"

Awkwafina: "In any sequel, pretty much - 'Queen of the Sequels' they call me -- no, they don't call me that."

Sanders: "We'll call you that because we claimed that for you!"

Awkwafina: "Ok, good!"

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