15 Recent Performances That Were Criminally Underrated

Awkwafina is known for her work as a comedian and rapper, but in The Farewell she proved herself as one of the best dramatic actresses of 2019. The film is a semi-autobiographical account of director Lulu Wang's trip back to China to attend a fake wedding for the real purpose of saying goodbye to her secretly terminally ill grandmother she was very close with. Awkwafina portrays Billi, the film's stand-in for Lulu Wang.

It's a situation rife with emotional stress, and this is only made exponentially worse by the fact that she can't even tell her grandmother that she's sick. Awkwafina portrays the inner turmoil that the character of Billi is experiencing perfectly. You truly feel for her as you watch her struggle throughout the film.

She says the most through her reserved silence in the quiet reflective moments she spends with her grandmother, unable to say what she so desperately wants to say to her. You can feel the sadness building up within her as the film progresses, just begging to be let out.

Her portrayal of Billi's steadfast commitment to not letting her sadness show is powerful and it beautifully captures a feeling that is hard to put into words, much less capture on film.