Awkwafina

Age: 29

Hometown: Forest Hills, Queens

Now Lives: A railroad apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Claim to Fame: Awkwafina, whose real name is Nora Lum, is a rapper turned actress who will be known “till the day I die,” she said, for a YouTube video response to a bawdy 2006 Mickey Avalon song. (Her parody has nearly 2.5 million views to date.) She came up with the stage name for her rap persona in high school and is surprised it stuck. “In retrospect, it was a horrible name,” she said.

Big Break: After appearing in bit parts in films like “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” and a recurring role on Hulu’s “Future Man,” Ms. Lum nabbed big roles in two projected summer blockbusters: “Ocean’s 8” (June 8) and “Crazy Rich Asians” (Aug. 15). She was shooting another film in Spain this spring when the trailers for both movies came out, and upon returning, she realized things were going to be different. “I was rummaging around New York today, and three people knew who I was,” she said in a recent interview. “That has never happened to me before.”