Awkwafina Just Got Real About Her Depression And How Her Fame Impacted Her Mental Health
"Fame is not a cure for depression. It’s just not."
Awkwafina just gave a candid, far-ranging interview to Harper's Bazaar — and in it, she opened up about her struggle with depression and how her skyrocket to fame three years ago took a toll on her mental health.
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For those of you who don't remember, 2018 was an absolutely wild year for Awkwafina. She went from an up-and-coming internet star to a household name basically overnight, with the release of three consecutive movies: Crazy Rich Asians, Dude, and Ocean's 8.
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But in her conversation with Harper's Bazaar, Awkwafina reflected on that monumental year of her life with some sadness.
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"That summer, it was a lot of people being like, 'Just enjoy, dude, just have fun, live in the moment.' All this stuff started to come up," she revealed.
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"I wondered at a certain point, when everything in my life was amazing, why I felt so low and with no sense of identity. Why do I feel like no one knows me anymore?"
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"Maybe it does go back to depression," she said. "It comes in different forms your whole life."
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"I was scared about what this [success] meant," she continued. "'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.'"
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"Fame is not a cure for depression,” Awkwafina noted. “It’s just not. It’s not necessarily the cause of it, but it’s also not the cure of it."
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In another moment from her interview, the Golden Globe winner opened up about the time in her life before she got famous, when she was a struggling performer barely making ends meet. She referred to that time as the "best years of [her] life."
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"I made just enough, and I was able to do something that I loved doing so much. I just wanted it so bad," she reflected. "The truth is that the best years of your life are when you’re waiting for something big to happen."
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