Steven Yeun Biography

Actor Steven Yeun was best known as the upbeat, resourceful Glenn of the TV series The Walking Dead before he was nominated for an Oscar for his lead performance in the film Minari.

Born in Korea and raised in Michigan, Yeun is a graduate of Kalamazoo College (2005), where he first began acting and improv.

After a few years in Chicago, Yeun moved to Los Angeles and was soon cast as a central character in The Walking Dead in 2010.

Yeun left the show after 2016 and has since worked steadily as a voice actor as well as on the big screen.

Yeun’s voice roles include: Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016-19); Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (2016-18) and 3Below: Tales of Arcadia (2018-19); Final Space (2018-2020); Wizards (2020); and Invincible (2021-23).

His other credits include the comedy Sorry to Bother You (2018), the Korean thriller Burning (2018) and the TV series Beef (2023, which brought Yeun an Emmy as best lead actor in a limited series).

Yeun’s lead role in Minari earned an Oscar nomination for best actor in 2021 (the last time an Asian was nominated for best actor was 1982 — Ben Kingsley won for Gandhi).