2. featurefeature
STEVEN YEUN SHARES HIS JOURNEY
FROM METRO DETROIT TO THE LAND
OF THE WALKERS
The first thing that strikes you about Steven Yeun is that
he is truly a down to earth, Midwestern kid from Michigan
who loves his family, friends, Detroit and the Red Wings.
He also happens to star in a hit television series on AMC
called The Walking Dead.
Just like his character Glenn, Yeun was born in
Korea and moved to the United States with
his family. But unlike the character he
portrays, Yeun was 5 years old and his
father was taking a job with his uncle’s
clothing store Jean and Top.“Those years
were interesting. I was the only Korean
kid pretty much in my entire elementary
school,”Yeun recalls. “I just loved it. It
was the time of rat tales and mullets,
and I had great friends.”
His parents also own a pair
of beauty supply stores in nearby
Detroit. “It was awesome, right off
the main strip where we ended
up catching a Red Wings victory
parade,” Yeun says. “This sealed
the deal with me and my brother
as obsessed fans.” Shortly
afterward, his family moved
from Taylor to Troy where they
reside today.
Yeun went into college with the
intention to become an attorney or
doctor, acting was not on his radar.
“Before college I was into music,”
Yeun says.“When I got to Kalamazoo
College, my school had an improv
show Monkapult, and I was blown
away. It looked like so much fun.”
It was at that show thatYeun’s
passion shifted. He worked his way
through classes and auditions with the
determination to get on the improv team.
Sure enough his sophomore year, on the
second try, he made it. “Ever since then I
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3. “Walking Dead was one of the first big things that Steven had booked. Sort
of being dropped into Georgia in the 120 degree heat, right into the middle
of the action, right in the middle of the show,”Nicotero says.“Since that first
episode, I’ve seen him grow and mature as an actor, just as his character has
grown and matured. So, it really has been fascinating for me to watch.”
Yeun’s favorite highlights?“There’s a scene in season three where
Glenn busts through a chair and kills a Walker. I think that was a really
great moment for the character and as an actor for me. It was a turning
point for Glenn, and as myself as an actor I just realized I could just go
there. I could totally push myself to that place. It was really cool.”
Yeun is quick to acknowledge his appreciation to find mentors
in Nicotero, cinematographer Mike Satrazemis and acting veterans Jon
Bernthal, Andrew Lincoln and Jeffrey DeMunn. “I think just getting to
work with all the people I have been able to work with – Mike Satrazemis,
all our directors and Greg Nicotero, who is the backbone on this. He is
doing multi-hyphenate work at this point, and he is so good.”
“One of the things that I love about Steven is that he’s a
tremendously collaborative actor,”Nicotero says.“Given my role in the show
that I’ve moved from makeup effects to producer to director, for me, what
is exciting about him is that he has fantastic ideas about his character. And
as his character Glenn moves forward in the show, he and I have both been
very dedicated to making sure that the character is real, that the character is
reliable, and that the character makes good and smart decisions.”
“There are so many people who have enriched my experience
there. All the producers and when it comes to the actors, I remember
showing up for the first season and saying,‘Hey Jeff, Andy, do you guys
mind if I just kind of ask you questions and be a sponge around you?’Yeun
says.“They were like‘Of course!’People would help.”
Next up for Steven Yeun? Mike Cahill’s new feature film I
Origins debuting at Sundance 2014. Yeun co-stars with Michael Pitt and
Brit Marling. And as for long-term goals, Michigan is definitely a part
of the big picture.Yeun would love to film here. He and his brother also
hope to continue the entrepreneurial spirit of his family by opening
their own business together in Detroit. — Jennifer Champagne
amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead
have always loved performing. It was very organic on how it all came to
be,”Yeun says.“There was never any real moment where I was like ‘Oh, I
wanted to be an actor.’One step opened the way to the next step, and it all
came together.”
After graduating with a degree in psychology, Yeun spent four
years in Chicago training and working with The Second City comedy
troupe.“I was very fortunate. I also got to do a lot of shows with Stir-Friday
Night, which is an Asian American comedy troupe,”Yeun recalls.“I ended
up doing a couple of comedy tours at Second City.”
While in Chicago, he worked on his craft and took classes.
“Chicago was really my growth period and my grad school,”Yeun adds.
Then in 2009, he woke up one morning and just decided that he
was going to move to Los Angeles.“I thought that it was the right time.
I had a gut feeling,”Yeun says.“I told everybody that I was leaving, so I
couldn’t back out.” He left that October and drove to L.A. Once he got
there, he freaked out.“I thought I was never going to do anything because
it was so big and terrifying, but somehow in about five or six months The
Walking Dead came along and I booked that,”he adds.“It’s pretty crazy. I
can only be really thankful.”
Yeun’s advice to other Midwestern kids with the dream of a career
in Hollywood: The key is to know yourself.“Knowing yourself and your
abilities and how hard you want to work for this,”Yeun explains.“One of
the ways you can better know yourself is putting yourself up against other
people or putting yourself in an environment that makes you collaborate
or you’re watching your peers as they push the boundaries.”
He credits Go Comedy! in Ferndale as such an outlet.“Move to
Chicago to get better,by the time you move to L.A.you will be so prepared,”
Yeun says.“For me, having those four years in Chicago, when I moved to
L.A. it was such a fast roller coaster that it really armed me in a good way.”
That roller coaster ride? Landing his first acting gig, a breakout
role of Glenn Rhee on AMC’s The Walking Dead, and working with one
of film’s most heralded directors Frank Darabont and renowned makeup
effects wizard turned series director/executive producer Greg Nicotero.
“Working with Darabont was great. He is such a mind, such a
genius. We would get first draft pages that someone else had written.‘This
is great’and then we would read Frank’s rewrite of it,”Yeun recalls.“Oh my
god. I didn’t even know that it could get better than it did, but he just blew
the other version out in the rain. He helped me know what good writing
was. He’s an amazing writer. He’s brilliant.”
“It’s been a great journey for me as a character. Glenn has risen
from this comic relief, little kid type of situation to a lover, a fighter and the
kind of a man who is figuring himself out. It’s been great to play that arc
with him,”Yeun adds.“At the same time, it has been really fun to grow with
the character; as the character gets more experience, Steven the actor gets
more experience. It’s been really interesting as to how art is imitating life
at this point.”
Greg Nicotero agrees with the Glenn/Steven parallel 100 percent.
“It’s been a great journey for me as a
character. Glenn has risen from this comic
relief, little kid type of situation to a lover, a
fighter and the kind of a man who is figuring
himself out.” – Steven Yeun
Steven Yeun
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