Every Steven Yeun movie ranked: the Walking Dead favourite’s road to the Oscars with Korean-American drama Minari
- Yeun’s first film was low-budget romantic comedy My Name is Jerry, but he showed his versatility as a voice actor in bizarre nativity animation The Star
- His first bona fide leading man role came in horror comedy Mayhem, but it was his chilling performance in Burning that really caught the eye
Minari star Steven Yeun made Oscar history earlier this year when he became the first Asian-American ever to be nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards.
This recognition caps a swift rise to fame for the 37-year-old actor, who was born in Seoul but raised in the US state of Michigan. Best known for his role as Glenn Rhee in the hit zombie drama series The Walking Dead, Yeun was one of the show’s original cast members, and a fan favourite, until his character’s shocking death in the season seven premiere.
A prolific voice actor, Yeun has also proffered his dulcet tones on animated shows The Legend of Korra, Tales of Arcadia and Final Space, and currently voices the lead character in Amazon’s superhero series Invincible, adapted from a comic book by Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.
Yeun’s Oscar nomination could not have come at a better time. Asian and Asian-American representation in Hollywood productions is breaking new ground, and Yeun is set to secure his place on the industry’s A-list: he is next to be seen in drama The Humans, as well as Get Out director Jordan Peele’s forthcoming horror project opposite fellow Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya.
Here we rank all of Yeun’s movie performances to date, from worst to best.
9. My Name is Jerry (2009)
Yeun’s first film was this low-budget romantic comedy about Jerry, a disillusioned middle-aged salesman (Doug Jones) who falls in with a group of young hipsters. Yeun plays Chas, housemate of Jerry’s new love interest. He works at a record store, plays in a punk band and turns Jerry on to some cool music.
