Awkwafina is in “final negotiations” to join the cast of the sequel to the wildly successful 2017 film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The cast is already set to include Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan reprising their roles from the remake, which made $962 million worldwide and became the fourth-highest domestic grossing movie last year.
The sequel will also have Jake Kasdan returning as director and co-writer with Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner coming back to help pen the script. Awkwafina’s role in the film remains a mystery, but THR describes her character as “key” and “significant.”
Awkwafina, whose real name is Nora Lum, starred in two of the biggest box office hits in 2018: Ocean’s 8 and Crazy Rich Asians. She parlayed her breakout success in those two films into a historic turn on Saturday Night Live, where she became the first Asian woman to host the show since Lucy Liu on Dec. 16, 2000. “I remember how important that episode was for me and how it totally changed what I thought was possible for an Asian-American woman,” she reflected on the moment during her SNL dialogue. “Thank you Lucy for opening the door. I wasn’t able to make it in back then, but 18 years later I’m hosting the show.”
Awkwafina is slated to appear in The Farewell and Paradise Hills this year, as well as lend her voice for The Angry Birds Movie 2.
