Awkwafina is on a roll. In the last year, the Queens-hailing YouTube rapper, born Nora Lum, has become a breakout actress, picking up major roles in blockbusters like Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians. Her latest project strikes even more of a personal chord. She plays the lead in critically acclaimed The Farewell, a moving story inspired by director Lulu Wang's family about the lies we tell to protect our loved ones. Up next, she's filming "Awkwafina," a series for Comedy Central.

Flying halfway across the world to film—in Singapore, Malaysia, China and more—has taught Awkwafina a few things about travel, too. And as a result, she's landed a spokesperson role with HotelTonight. We caught up with Awkwafina during her still-hectic filming schedule to hear more about her time in China with The Farewell and the places that remind her of home.

What was it like filming The Farewell in China?

It was awesome. We filmed in Changchun, which is where [director Lulu Wang's] family is from, so we could do things like have the movie wedding in the same venue as the actual wedding. It made everything feel real. And there's always another journey that takes place when you're Asian American and you return to China. My grandma is from right near where Lulu’s grandma is from, so it was really cool to eat the same foods my grandma loves. I also got close with Lulu’s family. The movie surrounds this lie that is really hard to understand, but while you're there, surrounded by love, you start to understand the reasoning behind it.

Your last movie, Crazy Rich Asians, was also filmed in Asia. How did these two filming and traveling experiences compare?

Crazy Rich Asians was like a giant sleepaway camp. I love my castmates so much, and it was very momentous. And I fell in love with the culture of [Singapore]. With The Farewell, there was a lot of researching to really understand who Billi was, and what she was going through. It's always cool to travel and work, because you get very immersed in the country [you're in] by default. You're a fish out of water, in a good way.

How do you make the most of your free time when you're working in these amazing places?

You've got to find your balance. For Crazy Rich Asians, as Peik Lin, I had some downtime. I like to go touristing, but I get sick of that quickly because it requires a lot of standing and walking. I mostly spent my downtime watching TV alone in the hotel room. I love just being somewhere else. There's something comforting and addictive about foreign TV that you don't understand, but it's just, like, playing on a roll.

You've been very intentional about the films you've joined, and the characters you've played. What drew you to The Farewell?

It's always about stories that move me. That'll always be the deciding factor. It also has be a two-way street. I've talked to a lot of Asian American actors that have told me horror stories about the kinds of things they've had to go through, or certain ways they were cast. The majority of projects that I've been given are unique and I've embraced a voice that I think is progressive, so that anything that I've done is proof that we're going in the right direction.

What was most striking to me [about The Farewell] was that it was originally called "Nai Nai," which is Chinese for grandma. I was raised by my grandma, and I have a very, very close relationship with my grandma. I'd never been given a script that was to be directed by an Asian American woman, about a story that had so much specificity to my own life. So that initially hit me. What surprised me later was how it affected other people, because it really touches on love between a grandmother and her grandchildren, and family dysfunction.