Lim ’96 Named to Academy

Crazy Rich Asians screenwriter Adele Lim ’96, LHD ’22 is the newest member of the Writers’ Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“Honored to be a member of the Academy!” Lim said in a retweet of the Academy’s announcement. “And appreciate all efforts to platform AAPI voices – esp mom-in-laws who cut like a chainsaw,” she added, referencing a clip the Academy tweeted from Crazy Rich Asians in which Michelle Yeoh’s Eleanor Young verbally eviscerates her daughter-in-law, Rachel (Constance Wu).

In her own tweet announcing her membership, Lim said, “I grew up in Malaysia but American movies are in my DNA – from my grandma’s love of Hedy Lamarr to my mom singing Black Hills of Dakota at school concerts – movies are a beacon for all the batty dreamers all over the world. And I am SO lucky to be a tiny part of it.”

Membership to the Academy is by invitation only. To be considered to the Writer’s Branch of the Academy, a screenwriter must have at least two feature film credits that “reflect the high standards of the Academy” and/or have been nominated for an Oscar in writing or have written for an Oscar-nominated film.

Lim, who also co-wrote Raya and the Last Dragon and an as-yet untitled Lionsgate comedy she will direct, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Emerson and spoke at the Class of 2022’s commencement in May.

An outspoken advocate for AAPI representation in Hollywood, Lim made headlines in 2019 when she left the writing team for the Crazy Rich Asian sequels after learning her co-writer, a white man, would be paid nearly 10 times what Lim was being offered.