Steven Yeun

The Korean-American actor Steven Yeun (birthname: Yeun Sang-yeop) has established a unique position as an artist who can shift between American and Korean characters, often blending them together, as with his Korean father emigrating to America with his family in Lee Isaac Chung’s drama, Minari (2020), for which Yeun was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. Although American audiences know Yeun best for his major role in six seasons of the AMC hit series, The Walking Dead (2010-2016), he has managed to be a movie actor in both American and Korean contexts. Also overlooked, Yeun has been an extremely active vocal actor in film and TV animation.

After training as a comedy actor with Second City in Chicago, Yeun relocated to Los Angeles in 2009 and landed the plum role of Glenn Rhee in The Walking Dead, while appearing as a guest actor in single episodes in network and cable drama and comedy. His first role in a notable feature was in I Origins (2014), with Michael Pitt, Brit Marling, and Archie Panjabi, followed by a striking appearance in his first Korean film, Bong Joon-ho’s comedy-adventure, Okja (2017), with Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun, Byun Hee-bong, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jake Gyllenhaal. Yeun’s first starring role was in Joe Lynch’s horror comedy, Mayhem (2017), a genre he continued to explore—with a surreal twist—in Boots Riley’s remarkable debut, Sorry to Bother You (2018), with Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, Danny Glover, and Armie Hammer. 

From this point on, Steven Yeun was cast in a string of significant movies by world-class directors, starting with his quietly powerful and chilling performance as a psychopath in Korean film master Lee Chang-dong’s psychological drama, Burning (2018), with Yoo Ah-in and Jeon Jong-Seo, which earned Yeun awards from both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics. Burning was the first Korean film to be shortlisted for the Oscar previously known as the Best Foreign Language Film.

Yeun changed course as lead actor and executive producer of the gentler, humanist drama, Chung’s Minari, with Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Youn Yuh-Jung, and Will Patton, receiving six Oscar nominations (including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, and Supporting Actress). Yeun was part of the brilliant ensemble (including Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, Amy Schumer, Beanie Feldstein, and June Squibb) of writer-director Stephen Karam’s debut feature version of his play, The Humans (2021). Yeun’s 2022 movie year is highlighted by his co-starring role in Jordan Peele’s western-horror-science fiction, Nope, with Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Michael Wincott. 

Among Yeun’s many voice performances, notable work includes Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021), with Emile Hirsch, Kelsey Grammer, Diego Luna, Alfred Molina; the Adult Swim animated series Final Space (2018-2021), and Tuca & Bertie (2019-present); and Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix animated series, Wizards: Tales of Arcadia (2020).