Steven Yeun was formerly best-known for playing fan-favorite character Glenn Rhee in AMC’s The Walking Dead, who saved Rick Grimes in the series’ first episode. But the talented American actor has played other great television roles, including Mark Grayson in Invincible, Keith in Voltron: Legendary Defender, and Speckle in Tuca & Bertie. Outside the world of television, Yeun has appeared in a number of great films over the past few years. Yeun was the first Asian-American actor to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his work in Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari. More recently, Yeun was cast in a main role in Jordan Peele’s upcoming 2022 horror film, Nope, the trailer for which has already released.
Great actors can have questionable choices in the projects they choose to star in. Fortunately, Steven Yeun has not been one of them. His filmography has included a wide range of different genres and character types, having successfully moved on from The Walking Dead. While we wait for the actor’s projects to drop, here are Steven Yeun’s best movies so far, ranked.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
5 Mayhem
After Glenn Rhee was killed off The Walking Dead in late 2016, Steven Yeun appeared in another bloody live-action production with 2017’s Mayhem. Derek Cho (Yeun) was a lawyer who lost his job after wrongly being held responsible for a failed legal case. He meets Melanie Cross (Samara Weaving), who had her request for an extension for a bank loan rejected. The film featured a plot device with the “Red Eye” virus, which turned people into violent lunatics that lost all self-control. When a virus infects everyone inside a corporate building and drives everyone crazy, Derek and Melanie unite to exact revenge on the people who have done them wrong. Mayhem lived up to its name with Derek and Melanie fighting through security guards to get to the evil corporate suits. The movie was high-energy, violent, and full of the angst one might feel after a really bad day at work. Mayhem wasn’t particularly deep and was neither narratively nor emotionally complex, but it knew exactly what it wanted to be and achieved everything it set out to do.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
4 Sorry to Bother You
Mirror Releasing
Sorry to Bother You assembled an all-star cast with actors including Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Terry Crews, and Jermaine Fowler. The film was a bizarre black comedy that had Cassius Green as its protagonist, a Black telemarketer who used a “white voice” whenever he talked to customers. After living in a garage and still struggling to pay rent, Cassius is offered a chance to become rich. However, he uncovered a strange conspiracy that forced him to decide where his loyalties were: making money for himself, or stand against oppression with his friends. Steven Yeun was Squeeze, an activist who wanted to help exploited workers unionize and receive better treatment. Squeeze had several great lines in the film, such as: “If you show people a problem but not a solution, their reaction is going to be to get used to it.”
3 Burning
Pinehouse Film
The 2018 South Korean film, Burning, was featured in many “Best Films of the Decade” lists including a list from Rolling Stone. Burning cast Steven Yeun in his most mysterious role to date. The film reunited its protagonist, Jong-su, with a childhood friend named Hae-mi who he had romantic interest in. Throughout the film, Jong-su was deeply disturbed by the mysterious nature of Hae-mi’s friend, Ben (played by Steven Yeun). Ben was a character that was very friendly and polite, but came across very unusual and creepy. As Jong-su spent more time with Ben, Jong-su learned about Ben’s strange hobby, causing Jong-su to suspect that Ben was hiding a dark past. Based on Haruki Murakami’s work, Burning was an excellent psychological thriller that made its audiences always question the nature of its characters. But the film was only able to work because of Yeun’s fantastic performance — indeed, it was definitely a highlight in Yeun’s film career.
2 Okja
Netflix
Before the groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece, Parasite, was released, director Bong Joon-ho directed Okja for Netflix. Like Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer (2013) film, Okja featured both English-speaking and Korean-speaking characters. Okja was the name of a genetically modified super pig with a special bond to a young farm girl named Mija. After Okja was taken, Mija started a brave mission to save her animal friend before Okja was killed at a meat processing plant. During the adventure, Mija crossed paths with the ALF (the Animal Liberation Front), led by a character played by Paul Dano. Steven Yeun played K, one of the members of the Animal Liberation Front. Since Mija was unable to speak English, K served as a translator between Mija and the ALF. Okja was the perfect watch for viewers who wanted to see a unique adventure movie exploring our relationship with animals and the food industry.
1 Minari
A24
Minari has become Steven Yeun’s highest-rated movie. The film was directed by Lee Isaac Chung and was inspired by the director’s own upbringing. Set on a farm in Arkansas during the 1980s, the film told the story of a South Korean immigrant family creating a life for themselves in the United States. Yeun played Jacob, a father that aspired for a better life for his family. Jacob was the one to make the decision to relocate the family, moving them away from a humble life in California. However, his plans do not go exactly the way he wanted them to, and his ambitions neglected the needs of his family. This placed major strain on Jacob’s marriage with his wife, Monica.
Together, the couple did their best to raise their children, David and Anne. As the American-born son of Korean immigrants, David initially felt stuck between two cultures. But the strong bond that David has with his grandmother helps him navigate the complex world he found himself in. Minari explored important family dynamics, struggles, culture and identity in a way that few movies do today. The masterful understanding of its own subject matter allowed Minari to have incredible emotional resonance with its viewers. It didn’t require you to be American, Korean, both, or neither to enjoy the film; Minari told an honest human story and was a compelling family drama for everyone.
