Steven
Yeun (/jʌn/; Korean: 연상엽;
born Yeun Sang-yeop; December 21, 1983) is an American actor and
producer. Yeun initially rose to prominence for his roles as Glenn Rhee in the television series The Walking Dead (2010–2016)
and Ben in the film Burning (2018). The latter earned him critical
acclaim and several accolades, including the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He has been nominated for two Saturn Awards. He also starred in and executive produced Minari (2020), earning him critical acclaim and a
nomination for the Academy Award for Best
Actor, becoming the first Asian American actor to receive this honor. He also became the first Asian-American actor
to be nominated at the Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. Yeun
has also appeared in the films I Origins (2014), Okja (2017), Mayhem (2017), and Sorry to Bother You (2018),
and he voiced main characters in television series such as Voltron: Legendary
Defender (2016–2018), Tales of Arcadia (2016–2021), Stretch
Armstrong and the Flex Fighters (2017–2018), Final Space (2018–2021), Tuca & Bertie (2019–present), and Invincible (2021–present).
Yeun was born in Seoul on December 21, 1983 to Je and
Jun Yeun His father was an architect in South Korea before moving his
family in 1988 to Canada, where they lived in Regina, Saskatchewan. He
has a younger brother named Brian. The family later moved to the U.S. and
settled in Taylor, Michigan, and
then Troy, Michigan, where Yeun
lived until he graduated from Troy High School in
2001. Growing up, Yeun's family spoke Korean at home. In Regina, he attended Ruth M. Buck Elementary School.
Yeun was raised in a Christian household. His parents, who owned beauty-supply
stores in Detroit, began calling him "Steven" after
meeting a doctor by that name. He received a bachelor's degree in
psychology with a concentration in neuroscience from Kalamazoo College in 2005. At Kalamazoo, he befriended the sister of
comedian Jordan Klepper and
she took him to see Klepper's improv show, which inspired him to take his first
acting class and later follow Klepper to Chicago, where they joined The Second
City.