History shifted one joyful, mournful, comical bit tonight at the 2020 Golden Globes, as Awkwafina became the first woman of Asian descent to win the award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical or Comedy Movie.
Looking like a glowy, sexy, Elizabethan mime, the 31-year-old accepted the award for her role in The Farewell, directed by Lulu Wang. The win marks multiple firsts—a history-making first for Asian representation at the Golden Globes, as well as Awkwafina’s first Golden Globe nomination, and first-ever dramatic role. She beat out a stacked category that included Cate Blanchett and Emma Thompson, who both have approximately the number of acting award statuettes as I have empty La Croix cans under my bed (countless.)
In her 70-second speech, the star demonstrated exactly why the award belongs to her, making us both laugh and cry almost in the same instant. “This is great,” she deadpanned, clutching the Globe statue. “If I fall upon hard times I could sell this, so that’s good.” Graciously thanking the team behind the movie, she went on to dedicate the award to her dad, saying, “I told you I’d get a job, dad.”
She also dedicated the award “To my grandma, my best friend, the woman who raised me. And to my mother Tia, who I always hope is watching from somewhere above, and I hope that she’s watching now.”
Playing the part of a young woman, Billie, whose love for family and independent streak keep her trapped between two cultures, was “the chance of a lifetime,” Awkwafina said. She’ll dive back into those themes—this time with more elicit drugs—on her upcoming Comedy Central show Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens on January 22.
We look forward to Awkwafina breaking more boundaries and reaping the benefits. And of course, to her winning plenty of awards to hawk for cash and fancy ruffs if she falls on hard times.
In just a few short years, Meghan Markle has gone from a Suits actress and lifestyle blogger to a member of the British royal family and one of the most photographed women in the world. While that, of course, must have been a wild ride for Markle herself, it also had a strange impact on someone who happens to look a lot like her: actress Tiffany Smith.
For starters, it led to a big break in her career, as she’s playing the Duchess of Sussex in Lifetime’s new movie Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal. (She took over the role from another Markle doppelgänger, Parisa Fitz-Henley.)
But Smith told Glamour that even before she landed the part, she was often mistaken for Markle. “The first time it happened was when she was on Suits and started dating Harry,” she says. “People would come up to me and say, ‘Do you know who you look like?'”
Once she landed the part, Smith says she studied Markle so much that she started to take on some of the royal’s mannerisms, like her now famous hair tuck. “It’s not a real tuck, but she kind of brushes it back,” Smith explains.
Obviously, the actress playing Markle in a movie will look like her—but a closer look into Smith’s Instagram feed only further proves how much these two look alike.
See for yourselves, below.
Twins in tiaras
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
At church with the family
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Lovingly gazing at a “prince” in casual wear
Kirsty Wigglesworth/Getty Images
Rocking a khaki trench
Samir Hussein/WireImage
En route to the royal wedding
Samir Hussein/WireImage
White jeans, ripped jeans, big smiles
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Major kudos to the Lifetime casting department on finding Meghan Markle 3.0—and if Markle ever wants to cut off her famous hair, at least she’ll be able to see how cute it looks.
Actress Nikki Reed welcomed her first child—a daughter named Bodhi Soleil Reed Somerhalder—with husband Ian Somerhalder in July of 2017 and she’s been sharing motherhood moments on social media and beyond ever since. (Or at least since the couple unplugged for a month after Bodhi’s birth.) Like when she praised her husband for carrying around her breast pump at the Golden Globes.
Now, Reed is opening up about the fact that she is still breastfeeding her now 20-month old. “I often get asked how long I plan on breastfeeding. To be honest, I have no idea how long her and I will be on this journey together,” she wrote on Instagram, alongside a sweet photo of her feeding Bodhi. ” I follow her lead, and she tells me exactly what she needs. At 20 months she is only just becoming interested in food.”
Breastfeeding, sadly, can still be a contentious subject—one which people, both mothers and those who are not mothers, have a lot of opinions about. While Reed goes on to talk about her own experience with her daughter and blended baby foods (she says Bodhi did not like them) before deciding to skip to finger foods, she isn’t preaching or screaming about what she thinks everyone else should be doing. She is simply sharing her own story—and that’s great and, frankly, refreshing.
“Right now thats where were [sic] at, still breastfeeding and skipping right to finger foods,” she continues. “Also, in case you need to hear it again because I definitely did, whatever you’re doing you are doing it right! Every baby is on their own path doing things when and how they need to, and our job is to trust our gut, talk to other mamas and just go with the flow!”
Less judgment and more sharing when it comes to breastfeeding sounds like a great plan to us.
Best Actress is one of the most coveted titles to take home from the Academy Awards. And at the Oscars 2019, that honor went to Olivia Colman for her performance in The Favourite from a competitive group that included A Star Is Born‘s Lady Gaga and awards-season favorite Glenn Close of The Wife. Colman accepted her award with a speech that revealed how shocked she was to win the award—and the Internet is loving it.
Colman opened her acceptance speech for portraying Queen Anne of England with a stunned quote: “This is hilarious,” she said. In her brief but wide-ranging speech, she went on to thank many people (including: her husband, her children, and her costars) while repeating that she found her win quite “funny.”
The speech ranged from inspiring (“Any little girl who’s practicing her speech on the tele—you never know!”) to hysterical (“If I forget anybody, I’ll find you later and give you a massive snog”), all in a matter of minutes. Colman didn’t seem to expect her win, and it was a sight to behold. (You can view the entire speech on Twitter.)
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
And, in an iconic conclusion, she closed her speech by blowing a kiss to Lady Gaga in the front row.
Ed Herrera/Getty Images
The speech was off-the-cuff, shell-shocked, and incredibly charming. Naturally, the Internet had a lot to say about the “delightful” moment and the performance that earned it.
Some asked for more projects where Colman gives a speech, just because her surprised reaction to winning Best Actress felt so relatable.
Others loved that she gave a heartfelt call out to her fellow nominees, Lady Gaga in particular.
She may be an Academy Award winner, but make no mistake: under pressure, “Olivia Colman is all of us.”
There’s something familiar about KiKi Layne when you meet her, even though she’s on the brink of super stardom. Her smile is contagious, the kind that only belongs to that person in high school who was everyone’s best friend. Her infectious laughter is disarming. And when the 26-year-old talks about watching The Lion King and Selena repeatedly as a kid—so much so that it would drive her brother crazy—you laugh and remember doing the same. Talking to her is like catching up with an old friend, the one you always knew would make it.
As the breakout star of Barry Jenkins’ buzzy If Beale Street Could Talk, the film adaptation of the James Baldwin novel in theaters now, Layne plays Tish Rivers, a woman trying to prove her lover’s innocence while pregnant with their first child. Layne says it was the special combination of Baldwin’s writing and Jenkins’ directorial prowess that initially drew her to the screenplay. “Reading the script, I thought it was amazing how it’s this really beautiful love story,” Layne says. “You’ve got these two young black people who are soulmates, but they’re dealing with issues that are just as present today as they were when the book was written in the early ‘70s.”
PHOTO: Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
Jenkins’ interpretation of Baldwin’s story brings a complexity and humanity to the reality of black people’s experiences, so much so that Layne knew immediately she needed to be a part of it. If Beale Street Could Talk effectively highlights how systemic oppression affects black relationships and thwarts the power of black love. In particular, Layne speaks to the difficulty of filming the movie’s prison scenes, knowing full well that those scripted moments are a reality for many black women today. “I was very aware that this isn’t some general story,” she explains.
To prepare for the role, Layne relied heavily on the life of Kalief Browder—a young black man who spent two years in solitary confinement on Rikers Island awaiting trial for allegedly stealing a backpack—and the impact his prison sentence had on the people he loved. “I watched the docuseries about his life and paid attention to what everything was doing to his family and the people who were left behind to try to fight for him,” Layne says. “They were experiencing this with him, too.”
“To see a young black woman being loved for just who she is—her hair, her skin, her clothes—is powerful.”
Working alongside such powerful black actresses as Regina King and Teyonah Parrish, Layne also understands the movie’s ability to challenge the stereotypical narratives around black women’s strength. “Working on this film gave me a different perspective on what a ‘strong black woman’ looks like,” she says. “I don’t think I’d ever seen a strong black woman who had the characteristics of Tish—someone who was vulnerable, open; so loved and loving.” Playing Tish, Layne says, enabled her to reimagine both what power is, and what it could be. “I’m hoping that seeing this film and more images of black women being really comfortable in their skin gives a broader perspective of what strength looks like for us,” she explains. “For a while, the perceptions have been very narrow.”
And she’s right. The acceptance of black women’s natural beauty is rare in today’s mainstream media, but throughout the film, the combination of Layne’s beauty and Jenkins’ meticulous eye create a series of standout moments. “In this film, you see a black woman being loved so hard for just being her natural self,” she says. “To see a young black woman being loved for just who she is—her hair, her skin, her clothes—is powerful. She doesn’t have much, but what she has is enough.”
Yet, even as the entertainment industry and society at large still struggle to include black women within its standards of beauty, Layne is glad they’re not waiting. “We’re seeing more black women saying: ‘This is who I am; this is what I’ve been given.’ And it’s beautiful.” She continues: “It’s especially important in the time of social media where there are so many images of this very specific type of woman that’s supposed to be beautiful, sought after and sexy. To see women rejecting that and embracing who they really are, it’s really powerful.”
PHOTO: Allstar/Annapurna Pictures
PHOTO: Allstar/Annapurna Pictures
It’s rare that black women’s stories are told with the same veracity this film offers. Layne knows this, and considers herself lucky to be entering the industry at a time when movies like If Beale Street Could Talk are being made. “We are in a moment where there are just so many more platforms and outlets and opportunities for us to get our stories heard,” she says. “Instead of asking for permission, we’re seeing more artists and creatives taking control over the stories we tell. That’s a powerful time to enter.”
Thinking beyond this film, or even her next project—a screen adaptation of Richard Wright’s 1940 novel Native Son—Layne aspires for a career that’s not just fruitful for herself, but also for others. Recognizing the reality of black women’s experiences in the entertainment industry, the actor hopes her career creates more opportunities for young black women everywhere. “I want to push the boundaries on the roles that have historically been given to actresses who look like me,” she says. “There is so much more we can do. There always has been.” The way she says this—with a gleam in her eye that shows an honest, genuine determination to make a difference—makes you believe her.
KiKi Layne is going to do that, and more. And we’ll be all the better for it.
Candice Benbow is a writer and activist living in New Jersey.
There’s been a lot of hype leading up to Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald—this is set in the Harry Potter universe—but it’s especially loud around one mysterious new character: a woman, played by Claudia Kim, described on fan-site Pottermore as a “person cursed to become a beast.”
Intriguing, right? Naturally, this was enough to set the Twitter-sphere off with theories in the months leading up to the film. Then came a bombshell: Kim is Nagini, a woman who will eventually become the pet snake-slash-Horcrux of evil Lord Voldemort.
Naturally, fans had a lot of thoughts about this. And at the center of the swarm was Kim, an actor suddenly catapulted from a relative newcomer to the key player in a beloved series.
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Luckily, Kim has experience with major franchises—and their intense fanbases. After starting her career as an actress and model in South Korea, her first major roles in the United States included supporting turns in Avengers: Age of Ultron and The Dark Tower. Even so, Nagini and Harry Potter is on another level. (Tony Stark wishes.) “It’s mind-blowing to be a part of these franchises,” she tells Glamour. “It’s not something I had imagined would happen to me, especially so quickly.”
The role was a personal breakthrough for Kim, too. In South Korea, she says she was mostly offered action or thriller roles. Eventually, she felt restless and wanted more for her career. “I was at this point in Korea when I thought, I want something different,” she says. “Not all the roles that I’ve gotten were stereotypical, but in Korea, especially for TV, it’s a bit limited for women in their twenties and thirties. There aren’t enough female roles.”
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So, Kim made it happen for herself. She landed those aforementioned parts in Avengers and The Dark Tower, as well as a role in Netflix’s Marco Polo, before getting Fantastic Beasts. It was a gamble: Kim didn’t even know what, exactly, she was auditioning for until she got the part. And competition was fierce, despite all the secrecy. Kim stood out by tapping into Nagini’s sensitive side. “Actresses from all over the world read for the role, and Claudia’s read was the most emotional and affecting,” Fantastic Beasts director David Yates tells Glamour via email. “She was able to capture the character’s emotional core and found elements of both vulnerability as well as strength in what Jo [Rowling] had created on the page.”
“What drew me to the role was that she’s still very much a powerful, powerful being, despite her unfortunate circumstances and her vulnerabilities,” Kim says. In her hands, Nagini is more than Voldemort’s pet—she’s a sympathetic character dealing with real trauma: a blood curse that will eventually, and permanently, turn her into a snake.
Ezra Miller, who shares several scenes with Kim in the film, was blown away by their first read together. “With total respect to the other actor who was auditioning that day, I do remember that when Claudia left the room, we were still crying,” he says. “Consensus seemed pretty immediate on all fronts: Claudia is a superstar.”
Once Kim did find out where Nagini’s story led, that made the part all the more powerful to her. “In general, the way J.K. takes these marginalized characters and makes them understandable, there’s no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ or clear division,” she says.
PHOTO: Warner Bros.
PHOTO: Warner Bros.
“We always explored the balance between the vulnerabilities of the character who in this story is an outsider within the wizarding world, with this wonderful spirit and strength that Claudia could often find,” Yates adds.
It’s a teetering, trapped feeling that draws Nagini and Credence together, prompting them to set out on the run. (You’ll find out why in the film.) “They both have terminal conditions, [and] they are completely isolated,” Miller says. “All that being considered, they have somehow found this way to recognize each other and, to some degree, to trust one another. That brings them together on this journey as they’re both seeking themselves, seeking understanding and compassion and fortitude in their suffering.”
If Kim’s vulnerability makes the human half of her character believable, intense preparation was necessary for the other half, the serpent. She trained with a movement coach to incorporate subtle, snake-like motions into her scenes. And to bond ahead of their on-screen journey, Kim and Miller took an expedition to a solstice ritual—on-foot and through the woods. “It was fantastic because we kind of had to support each other on a journey…that was just the heart of our characters’ situation right there: People who are kind of getting to know each other really fast because there’s some sort of mutual understanding at play, who are sort of lost in the woods,” Miller says. Kim was down for the challenge. “Even that day, I remember us joking and being like, gosh, we’re doing such a great job at preparing for our character dynamic right now. We are genuinely lost in the woods looking for wizards.”
PHOTO: Warner Bros.
Then there were aspects of the role that were familiar to Kim and her background with action films. Fantastic Beasts required intensive stunt work; and according to her cast mates, she was the most active of the bunch. “It was the joke of the movie for me that every single scene, surprise surprise, Claudia in the skin-tight dress that doesn’t exist, in the 6-inch heels that are not made for walking or being human, and with her hair up, was inevitably doing something that the rest of us couldn’t physically do in gym clothes,” Miller says.
All stunts, special effects, and spell-casting aside, Kim says the most memorable parts of the role are the most emotional. Magic or muggle, everyone can find common ground with her character. “She wants to be accepted, and she wants to be free,” Kim says. In other words, “It’s fantasy, but it’s relatable.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the December issue of Glamour.
