FROM JORDAN PEELE to Bong Joon-ho, everybody wants a piece of Steven Yeun. The actor has hopscotched from Walking Dead alumnus to Oscar-nominated star in just a handful of years, working with both big-league auteurs and burgeoning new talent. 2023 continues his ascent; in the wake of the announcement of his MCU debut with Thunderbolts, Yeun is co-starring in Beef, an off-kilter comedy show from rising TV writer Lee Sung Jin about a petty feud with a stranger (Ali Wong) that’s blown up to catastrophic extremes. He tells Empire what he looks for when he chooses his roles.
You have to tap into a lot of rage to play the grudge-wielding, failing contractor Danny in Beef. What was that like? It was painful at times. I resonate with Danny in that parts of him represent a very young version of me. One that felt unable to exist in a freer way, one that felt pushed down and misunderstood. To revisit that in an older age where you’ve processed a bit was at times shameful, but overall so liberating. It wasn’t the expression of the rage that was liberating — it was more the acceptance of rage.