Steven Yeun facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Steven Yeun
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Yeun in 2025
|
|
| Born |
Sang-yeop Yeun
December 21, 1983 Seoul, South Korea
|
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Kalamazoo College (BA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Joana Pak
(m. 2016) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Full list |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul |
연상엽
|
| RR | Yeon Sangyeop |
| MR | Yŏn Sangyŏp |
Sang-yeop Yeun (Korean: 연상엽), known as Steven Yeun, is an American actor. He was born on December 21, 1983. He has won important awards like two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He was also nominated for an Academy Award.
Yeun became famous for playing Glenn Rhee in the TV show The Walking Dead from 2010 to 2016. He received great praise for his roles in the movies Burning (2018) and Minari (2020). For Minari, he was the first Asian American actor nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. In 2021, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2023, he starred in and produced the Netflix show Beef. For this show, he won two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Yeun has also appeared in films like Okja (2017), Sorry to Bother You (2018), The Humans (2021), and Nope (2022). He has also lent his voice to characters in animated TV shows. These include Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016–2018) and Invincible (2021–present).
Contents
Early Life and Education
Steven Yeun was born in Seoul, South Korea, on December 21, 1983. His parents are Je and June Yeun. His father was an architect in South Korea. In 1988, his family moved to Canada. They lived in Regina, Saskatchewan. Steven went to Ruth M. Buck Elementary School there. He has a younger brother named Brian.
Later, his family moved to the U.S. They settled in Taylor, Michigan, and then Troy, Michigan. Yeun lived in Troy until he finished Troy High School in 2001. At home, his family spoke Korean. His parents owned beauty-supply stores in Detroit. They started calling him "Steven" after meeting a doctor with that name.
Yeun went to Kalamazoo College. In 2005, he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. While at college, he met the sister of comedian Jordan Klepper. She took him to see Klepper's improv show. This show inspired Yeun to take his first acting class. Later, he followed Klepper to Chicago. There, they joined The Second City, a famous comedy group.
Career Highlights
Starting Out in Comedy
In 2005, Yeun told his parents he wanted to be an improv actor in Chicago. He chose this instead of going to law or medical school. His parents were not happy at first, but they supported him. They gave him two years to try acting. He moved to Chicago and lived with his brother.
Soon after college, he joined Stir Friday Night. This was an Asian American sketch comedy group in Chicago. Other famous actors, like Danny Pudi, were also part of this group. Yeun then joined The Second City in Chicago. In October 2009, he moved to Los Angeles to continue his acting career.
Becoming Famous with The Walking Dead
Steven Yeun's big break came when he was cast as Glenn Rhee in The Walking Dead. This was a horror drama TV series on AMC. The show started in 2010. It was based on a comic book series. The story is about people trying to survive in a world full of zombies.
The Walking Dead became one of the most watched shows on cable TV. Many people loved Yeun's character. He grew from a young survivor to a hero in the show. Yeun left the show in 2016 after the seventh season began.
Moving to Films and Gaining Praise
After The Walking Dead, Yeun started working on more films. In 2017, he was in the action horror movie Mayhem. He also acted in Bong Joon-ho's adventure film Okja. This movie was shown at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. It was released on Netflix in June 2017. Yeun also voiced the character Bo in the animated movie The Star.
In 2018, Yeun co-starred in the dark comedy Sorry to Bother You. This film was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. Later that year, he played Ben in the South Korean mystery drama Burning. His acting in Burning was highly praised. He won several awards for Best Supporting Actor for this role.
Yeun also voiced the main character, Mark Grayson, in the animated superhero series Invincible. This show is based on a comic book series. It was released on Amazon Prime in March 2021.
In 2020, Yeun starred in and helped produce Minari. This film is about a Korean immigrant family who become farmers in Arkansas. Yeun used his own experiences as an immigrant in his acting. The movie won awards at the Sundance Film Festival. Yeun was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for Minari. He was the first Asian-American actor to be nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for a leading role.
In 2021, Time magazine included him in their list of the 100 most influential people. In 2022, he co-starred in Jordan Peele's science fiction horror film Nope. He played Ricky "Jupe" Park, who owned a fictional theme park.
In 2023, Yeun starred with Ali Wong in the Netflix dark comedy series Beef. He also helped produce this show. For his role, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He was the second person of Asian descent to win the Golden Globe Award in this category.
Voice Acting Roles
Steven Yeun has done a lot of voice acting for animated TV shows and movies. Some of his voice roles include:
- Avatar Wan in The Legend of Korra (2013)
- Steve Palchuk in Trollhunters (2016–2018), 3Below (2018–2019), and Wizards (2020)
- Keith in Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016–2018)
- Nathan Park / Wingspan in Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters (2017–2018)
- Little Cato in Final Space (2018–2021)
- Speckle in Tuca & Bertie (2019–2022)
Personal Life
Steven Yeun married photographer Joana Pak on December 3, 2016. They live in Los Angeles and have two children.
He is a big fan of the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings sports teams.
Awards and Recognition
Steven Yeun has received many awards and nominations throughout his career. For his role in Minari (2020), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He also received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor.
For his work on Beef (2023), he won two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. He also won two Critics' Choice Television Awards. He was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award for this show.
Images for kids
-
Yeun at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival
See also
In Spanish: Steven Yeun para niños
