Steven Yeun On Balancing Work and Life 

Award-winning Korean American actor Steven Yeun has made a career of pushing the boundaries of what people think is an “Asian American” character. Having made an awards sweep for his starring role in the Netflix series “Beef,” Yeun broke into the entertainment scene over a decade ago battling the undead as the lovable and surprisingly tough Glenn Rhee on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” in 2010. He followed up that successful seven-season run with roles in independent films “Sorry to Bother You” and “Minari,” and Korean movies like “Burning” and Netflix’s “Okja.” 

In an intimate conversation with Daniel Dae Kim hosted by the Sunrise Collective at the Sundance Film Festival, Yeun discussed identity and balancing his professional career with his personal life. The event was a perfect pairing of two Korean American actors who both got their starts on cult favorite television shows and successfully pivoted to other projects. 

How To Act Asian American

Asian Americans are used to occupying this space of being neither American enough nor Asian enough, neither Black nor white, both oppressed and oppressor. We are often made invisible, ignored, and overlooked. We are taken for granted and not properly appreciated. Kim recalled resonating with what Yeun once said: “Being Asian American means caring about everyone else when no one cares about you.” 

Both Yeun and Kim “represent” Asian Americans (in particular, Korean American cis-gender men) in the roles they choose and portray on-screen. When Kim asked Yeun to share his thoughts on how he puts his identity into his work, Yeun confessed, “Identity is a struggle for me. And I think that is the place to land with it, ultimately, is [to] be in struggle with it.” 

Yeun further explained that there is a difficult battle to navigate between what is or is not allowed, what is or is not permitted. Though there is value in being asked to explain yourself and having the space and awareness to communicate your truths that other people may not understand, demanding that explanation is a lot to ask of people. 

“You can only really communicate that when you work that through in a real way in yourself. And that doesn’t mean that the only way you’re allowed to explain yourself is to be completely aware of yourself — there’s no way. But it’s to say that effort is the interesting tension that allows for … a more communicable way of expressing your identity,” he said.

Yeun continued by saying how people can get caught up in wanting to overtly express their identity on the surface, but as a result, they reduce themselves in the process. He is gracious, acknowledging that people don’t know what they don’t know until they go through the process of knowing themselves.

“But we kind of push the boundary, and then people come to us, [and] they’re, like, ‘Oh, you guys are now this thing.’ And it’s, like, no, I’m telling you, I’m also this thing. If you can just completely back off of me, you’d realize I’m the same. I’m all the things just like you are all the things. That’s the tension with identity: You get caught in self-explanation,” said the actor. He then wondered if we are meant to explain things only to ourselves and then work from that foundation. 

Kim expounded on Yeun’s thoughts and added that maybe the challenge is trying to explain things to ourselves, too. “So many of us are pressured to express our identity as if we are fully aware and we know what that is. But it’s a constantly evolving question, isn’t it?” Kim asked. 

Yeun fully agreed with his friend and mentioned how even the question makes you feel incredibly isolated, lonely, and detached. “And then having to form this shell of identity — ‘This is what I am, as my protective shield,’ as opposed to ‘This is what I am right now,’” he said. “Then also that in another moment, I’m, like, 50 things at once. Yeah, it’s hard.”

Like all things identity-related, it’s a process, and not everyone is on the same trajectory. The two actors discussed how difficult the issue of identity becomes when only certain preconceived notions are allowed to represent an entire demographic and how for Asian Americans to get beyond these preconceived notions and representations, people need to be willing to challenge these notions. More importantly, Asian Americans need to explore these notions as a byproduct — and not the primary purpose — of the art and work they recreate. 

“We look at the characters that [Yeun] played, no one can point to them and say, ‘Oh, that’s an Asian American this, and that’s an Asian American that.’ They’re just interesting characters, and the byproduct of which is that they had an Asian American, right? I think that is a crucial step,” commented Kim. 

Exploring Korean Identity as an Actor

When we think of a successful Hollywood career, we often conjure up external markers like blockbuster films, long-running shows, headline-making salaries, and a slew of roles that follow an upward trajectory of bigger and better. For Yeun, he chose not to continue down the stereotypical path after the success of the zombie apocalyptic drama. Instead, he balanced his work life with his personal desires — connecting to his motherland: Korea. 

“[‘The Walking Dead’] left me enough money to be, like, ‘I don’t need to be greedy here. I can really just sit and see what’s up.’” He added jokingly that he did things out of sequence: He got married, had a child, and bought a house right after he died on the show. 

“[It] made me really understand that quality of life is also an absolute part of the calculation,” continued Yeun about the experience. “I don’t even mean luxuries. I mean sanity, stability, and the ability to be decent to your family when you come home. Those are all things that are kind of factored in.”

At the height of his career, Yeun made several trips to Korea and learned Korean. “He started establishing real inroads and roots into the Korean industry, and more importantly, his heritage,” Kim, who was born in South Korea, divulged to the audience. 

Furthermore, Yeun consciously chose not to wield his Hollywood fame as a golden ticket. “The thing that I felt very clear in Korea was: You can’t just roll up on that place and be, like, ‘Where are my roles?’” the actor said. “That’s so aggressively disrespectful anywhere you go.”

Though Yeun was also born in South Korea, he grew up in Canada, was raised in Michigan, and mentioned that it was a blessing to be forced to check himself a bit and realize that he also has an “American” mind, too.

“There’s beauty to that. But also, when I was over there, I was, like, ‘I’m not going to work here in any capacity that feels anything beyond forced. It has to make sense.’ And then — even then — I also don’t want to play all the gyopo [overseas Korean] parts either. [… I]  would love to work in Korea — don’t get me wrong — but also out of respect for myself, and for the country, and, and all of it, I leave it to the pros,” Yeun elaborated.

What He Brings Home With Him

Though Yeun often feels misunderstood due to his own perceived awkwardness, misspeaking, misunderstandings, or mistakes, he counts on his family to ground him, likening them to a hall of mirrors. 

“My son or daughter are just, like, ‘Man, why are you doing that?’ They’re just so honest and truthful, I love it. You just have to face yourself,” he says. “That’s been really amazing with the kids just to break me from my conditioning. Like, what’s allowable, what’s acceptable, how we’re supposed to communicate with each other … Maybe because my kids haven’t fully engaged with the world to see how much judgment and fear there is, they keep me course-correct.”

Yeun explained how he used to rage at his parents for giving too much of themselves, for working so hard, and never taking a break. Now that he’s a parent and 40, he found that they were right about so many things. 

“Maybe in our intention, it doesn’t have to be taken from us. It’s what we offer in our fullness. It’s not this thing that’s being stripped from us. It’s not this way that we’re being taken advantage of, but rather, it’s, like, ‘That’s what I offer.’ That’s the ground foundation of what makes me powerful and great, that I’ve been made for this moment as opposed to being put upon,” said Yeun.

Of course, having proper boundaries is also necessary — and also understanding that we will fail — though we can try to fail forward. Being in the spotlight as a celebrity, Yeun knows very well how his words can be misinterpreted or taken out of context, or even correctly interpreted and he’s just made a mistake. 

“It is really tough to feel like you’re allowed to be a walking mistake, and that’s a work in progress,” the actor shared. “Like, if you were to be here in person with me, you would hear my sighs, my starting and stopping, my awkwardness, and my whatever. That would filter into how you perceive me. But we’re all reduced to standard format.”

Cover Image: Christine Chang