Steven Yeun: As Seen on The Walking Dead, Sorry To Bother You, and YouTube
Despite not watching The Walking Dead, Yeun’s cover issue of KoreAm magazine was left both unread but also present on my family's living room table for months. I knew him best as a recurring guest on CONAN (TBS, 2010 - ), bringing hilarity, charm, and more than just a smattering of handsomeness to the talk show. He frequently spoke about his Korean American identity, obstacles in Hollywood, and his own ambitions regarding acting. He was instantly relatable and magnetizing in a way I had not previously encountered with a celebrity. Yeun had his own experience with a Korean American actor but with the other focus of this project: John Cho. In a podcast with Variety, he recalled:
I’d seen John Cho start popping off, and it was really cool to watch him. He hadn’t gotten the shine that he deserved at the time, and it took a little bit for him over time. I watched him, and I was like, “Wow!” Here’s a Korean American actor that I’ve never seen before, and he’s on the screen, and it’s pretty incredible. He was the first one not to be objectified or fetishized. He was a new version of what an Asian man is seen as. He was something new and fresh and gave me a roadmap to emulate. I thought it was possible for me.
On CONAN: Discussing masculinity, sexuality, and stereotypesPlease scroll through the video gallery to watch one of his many interviews with Conan O'Brien and a video essay where I provide a short critique of how this interview engages with ethnicity and gender.
This page has paths:
- Cho Change: After Columbus Jackson Wright
- Portals, Pathways, and Project Proposal Jackson Wright
