Awkwafina: Fame is 'not a cure for depression'

Awkwafina insists fame “is not a cure for depression”.

The ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ star has battled with her mental health in the past but confessed she was hesitant when she shot to fame and insists she still feels “impostor syndrome”.

Speaking about her mental health, she shared: “Maybe it does go back to depression. It comes in different forms your whole life. I was scared about what this meant, ‘Was this the pinnacle of all those years of waiting? And why do I feel like I don’t want it? I don’t want this to be the summer that that’s it.’ Fame is not a cure for depression. It’s just not. It’s not necessarily the cause of it, but it’s also not the cure of it … I always feel impostor syndrome because there are so many talented people out there. But I’m not going to today because I worked really f****** hard.”

The 32-year-old actress – whose real name is Nora Lum – created her persona Awkwafina when she found fame and admits she doesn’t think she could have been so successful without it.

She added to Harper’s Bazaar: “Awkwafina is still someone that comes without all of the layers of anxiety. She is more confident than Nora. Nora does hide behind her still. I don’t see how Nora exists in Awkwafina’s world yet. I don’t see how I could have done this without Awkwafina, which is weird.”

Meanwhile, Awkwafina previously revealed she no plans to drop her stage name.

She said: “I don’t see it right now. That’s not to say that it’s not a possibility. I created Awkwafina when I was a kid. What she represents to me is more than a persona – in the very beginning, I did see her as the confident one, the side that comes out that gives Nora the panic attacks. But as I’ve grown older I’ve come to really be grateful for that name and what I’ve seen it written on. To see her name on a chair back or on a call sheet, that means a lot to me. I don’t think that I could shed her right now.”