Actor Steve Yeun broke out in a big way on AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” sticking with that show for six seasons until his character Glenn’s memorable and brutal death at the start of the seventh.
The actor was a fan favourite, and his exiting of the series not only resulted in a backlash but marked a famous turning point with the show’s audience dwindling in the wake of that episode.
Yeun says he has no hard feelings about his exit, and the series helped him grow confident in his skills and more determined to speak up on the job:
“I think for me it was a massive blessing to get ‘Walking Dead’ because not only did I meet incredible people that taught me some incredible ways to navigate life – to be a professional, to be an actor, to take a job seriously – but also just submit to a beast such as ‘Walking Dead’.
Leaving [the show], if I had any weird feelings about it, was mostly that I hadn’t taken the time for myself to understand who I was and maybe my voice and what I wanted to say. I was always kind of in service to this larger narrative.
And in some ways that reflect kind of how I was raised in my early years. I think I’m done. I think I want to try the other side.”
Since leaving the series, Yeun has built an impressive resume with cult hits like Bong Joon Ho’s “Okja” and Joe Lynch’s “Mayhem” before starring in three bonafide film masterpieces – Boots Riley’s “Sorry to Bother You,” Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning” and most recently Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari”.
Source: Variety