“In Korean, the word for ‘confidence’ is jashin-gam. And jashin means ‘self.’ And gam means ‘sense.’ I think we don’t know ourselves, but we are starting to. It can really only come from accepting who we are. I think most of us spent a lifetime running away from that.”
-Steven Yeun, episode 324 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
From The Walking Dead to Minari to Beef, Steven Yeun has become one of the most singular performers in Hollywood today. With his latest role in the sci-fi romance Love Me, we look back at our conversation with the leading man.
At the top, Yeun unpacks his acclaimed Netflix series Beef (5:09), a powerful church scene from the show (11:30), and his personal experience immigrating to the US from Seoul as a child (18:15). Then, we walk through Steven’s coming of age in Michigan (21:24), his memorable audition for The Second City Touring Company (25:29), and his pursuit of on-screen work in Los Angeles (33:40).
On the back-half, Steven reflects on his portrayal of Glenn on The Walking Dead (36:22), the films that followed, including Okja (48:10), Burning (50:02), and Sorry to Bother You (51:16), his transformative experience making and premiering Minari (55:42), and to close, a poem that guided him on set by the great Wendell Berry (1:08:19).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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Show-notes:
- See Steven’s new film Love Me in theaters.
- See his previous work in Beef, Nope, I Think You Should Leave, Minari, Burning, Sorry to Bother You, Okja, and The Walking Dead.
- Follow Steven on Instagram.
- For more conversations, hear our talks with Bob Odenkirk, Hiro Murai, Natasha Lyonne, Pedro Pascal, Quinta Brunson, Bill Hader, Jesse Eisenberg, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
Original illustration by Krishna Shenoi. Reference image by John Chong.
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